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AssigneeSembcorp Marine Integrated Yard Pte. Ltd.
InventorsGeir Lasse Kjersem, Harald Vartdal, Kwang Heng Lim, Yee Chin Mary Ong, Seng Yau Khoo
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Various embodiments relate to a method and a seabed supported base structure for providing a shallow water drilling terminal, where a prefabricated floating seabed substructure is towed to site, ballasted to rest on the seabed and/or piled to the seabed forming a seabed foundation. The seabed supported base structure is provided with at least one cantilevered unit with openings for drilling of wells, projecting sideways out from the exterior side of a vertical wall, terminated above sea level. A prefabricated floating drilling module provided with an outrigger with sidewise movable drilling device is towed to the site, guided into the seabed substructure through an opening in the wall structure at the periphery of the base structure, ballasted and mated onto the base structure, whereupon wells are drilled from a drilling gear. Upon completed drilling and operation of the wells, the drilling unit is removed and substituted by a production unit.
A seabed supported unit for drilling and production of hydrocarbons, comprising a seabed supported base structure (10) positioned and fixed with respect to the sea bed (11), forming a support for a drilling unit (30) and/or a production unit (50), characterized in that the base structure (10) preferably is provided with buoyancy devices, an upwards extending wall structures (15) extending around the base structure (10) along three sides and also intended to extend up above the sea level when installed at a site, while one side is provided with an opening (15′) in the wall structure (15) for introducing the floatable drilling and/or production unit (30, 50), retractably arranged on top of the base structure (10) and within the wall structure (15), and where the upwards extending wall structure (15) is provided with preinstalled sections on the exterior side of the wall structure (15), intended to be used for drilling wells through.
Method to provide a shallow water drilling terminal, where at least one prefabricated floating seabed substructure (10) is towed to site and ballasted to rest on the seabed (11) and/or piled to the seabed forming a seabed foundation, characterized in that at least one prefabricated floating drilling module (30) provided with an outrigger with sidewise movable drilling device is towed to the site and guided into the seabed substructure (10) through an opening (15′) in a wall structure (15) at the periphery of the seabed substructure (10) and ballasted and mated onto the seabed substructure (10), whereupon wells (12) are drilled from a drilling gear (16) on the outrigger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.