News

A history of weight saving in the Caspian Sea

With weight and corrosion being critical and continuous drivers for both greenfield and brownfield projects offshore, our Bondstrand™ composite systems provide the trusted solution to reduce total cost of ownership and operational expense.

Jul 27, 2020

The Azeri—Chirag–Gunashli (ACG) field in the Caspian Sea celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019, since being awarded the “Contract of the Century” in 1994, which is a huge milestone for Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry. This field has produced approximately 488 million tonnes of oil from November 1997 to the end of the second quarter in 2019.

Caspian Sea

Source: Offshore Technology

Our Fiber Glass Systems business unit is a pioneer in addressing many complex offshore challenges in weight, corrosion, safety, and ease of installation with our Bondstrand™ composite engineered solutions, all of which were drivers for our client. As part of the client’s full-field development project for the platforms, we worked collaboratively with an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) company as well as a multinational oil and gas company for the supply, manufacture, technical review, and project management of two Bondstrand GRE (Glass Reinforced Epoxy) pipe series (Bondstrand 7000M and 2400C/3400C) for nine platforms in the ACG full-field development and Shah Deniz stage two full-field development, including; four platforms in the Azeri field; two platforms in the Guneshli field; one platform in the Chirag field; and two platforms in the Shah Deniz field. In addition, 3 km of 24-inch pipe systems were installed for the water disposal line at the Sangachal oil terminal, and on the current platform BP ACE we have supplied circa 27 km of Bondstrand on the nine platforms. In our most recent supply to the BP ACE platform, the use of GRE composite pipe resulted in a weight saving of approximately 190 tonnes.

We are also designing, manufacturing, and supplying Bondstrand phenolic FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) structural components for the topside and jacket on the East Azeri project. The client chose to use Bondstrand phenolic FRP because of its low weight and corrosion resistant properties including:

Approximately 600m MARRS™ (Multi-Angular Rapid Railing System) offshore handrails complete with FRP ladders, with safety cages and safety gates, staircases, and grating
Custom engineered drag chain
Windwalls
Working access platforms
Other associated access structures (mud gutters, trough, etc.)

Our FRP structures are 70% lighter than metallic equivalents, drastically reducing overall topside weight. In total, our structures resulted in a weight saving of 140 tonnes.

In total, our Bondstrand piping and structures will provide a combined weight saving of 330 tonnes.

Discover more about the capabilities by visiting our Bondstrand Composite Solutions page.