As part of the development of the Sleipner area, Statoil planned to utilise existing process and export facilities for production from satellite platforms. Statoil selected Ramboll to perform FEED and detailed engineering of subsea pipelines to the satellite field, Gina Krog.
Designing import and export pipelines
The Gina Krog field is situated roughly 30 km northwest of the Sleipner field and 230 km southwest of Stavanger, Norway. It is estimated to hold 225 million barrels of oil and gas. The Gina Krog Field Development project covers all design and follow-on pipeline engineering activities associated with the development of the Gina Krog field, including:
- 27 km 20” gas export pipeline from Gina Krog to Sleipner A
- 2 x 10” risers installed in existing J-tubes at Sleipner A
- 2.3 km oil export pipeline from Gina Krog to FPSO
- 25 km 16” gas import pipeline from PLEM at location for future hot tap to Zeepipe
Drawing on existing experience
For the gas export pipeline, a riser base near Sleipner splits the 20" gas export pipeline into two 10" risers, which are to be directly pulled in through existing J-tubes. This is a challenging task that Ramboll has previous experience with from the Gudrun field pipeline project. This experience enabled Ramboll to provide advanced consultancy for the riser and pullhead design.
Ramboll's work on the Gina Krog subsea pipelines includes:
- Pipeline design
- Riser J-tube pull in for risers at Sleipner
- Procurement assistance
- Follow-on engineering during the entire construction phase
- System design responsibility, collecting pipeline system information from all interfacing parties
The Gina Krog project started January 2013 and will continue until second quarter of 2017. Production is due to start up in late 2016 and hot tap tie-in will be completed in 2017.