Design Challenges for Offshore Structures

in the Arctic
Karen Muggeridge
Arctic Engineering Specialist
Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum 2010
December 1, 2010
Calgary

ConocoPhillips Arctic Exploration and Development Opportunities

Chukchi Sea

Beaufort Sea

Arctic
Islands

Alaska
North Slope
Mackenzie
Delta
Cook
Inlet

Past Experience Offshore Canadian Beaufort Sea

Exploration Activities
in 1970s and 1980s

89 wells drilled
offshore

Range of structures
and vessels used

Molikpaq

CIDS

Kulluk

Support Fleet

Tarsiut Caisson

SDC
Explorer Drillship
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Current Offshore Structures in Ice Environments

Russia
Varandey Terminal
Sakhalin

East Coast Canada

Alaska
Cook Inlet

China
Bohai Bay

Varandey Offloading

Sakhalin
II

Photo Courtesy of Shell

Hibernia

Bohai
Bay
Cook Inlet

Photo Courtesy of T. Karna

Extreme Ice Features in the Beaufort Sea

Multi-year ice floes / ridges
Hummock fields
Ice islands

Photo Courtesy of Canatec

Key Arctic Offshore Challenges

Ice-structure/seabed interaction
Narrow weather windows
Logistics and infrastructure
Sensitive marine environment

Image Courtesy NRCan

Key Ice Issues Affecting Development

Offshore Structures
-

Global ice loads/pressures

Dynamic loads/vibration

Ice environment data

Pack ice driving forces

Rubble and ride-up

Offshore Pipelines
-

Scour depth and frequency data

Sub-scour deformation

Key Ice Issues Affecting Development

Marine Operations
-

Ice pressure
Extreme first year and multi-year ice
Prediction of ice movement

Other Important Areas

Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)

Regulatory and Stakeholder Engagement

Recent Research Focus Areas

Ice Load Prediction

Ice Scour Prediction
Ice Environment Data Gathering

Recent Research Programs

Ice Load Prediction

Sea ice load software Joint Industry Project (JIP) C-CORE

Re-evaluation of Molikpaq multi-year ice loads CHC / NRC

Ice Scour Prediction

Canada Beaufort Sea repetitive ice scour mapping program GSC

Ice scour simulation JIP CHC / NRC

Pipeline risk assessment and mitigation JIP C-CORE
Subsea ice risk assessment and mitigation JIP C-CORE
ICE PIPE Arctic offshore pipelines JIP DNV

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Recent Research Programs

Ice Environment Data Gathering

Climate change, seasonal ice cover and trends research

multiple efforts world wide

Beaufort and Chukchi extreme ice feature statistics JIP Canatec

Beaufort Sea Ice Environment Database JIP CHC / NRC

Ice island and extreme ice feature tracking JIP Canatec

Assess Electromagnetic (EM) technology to measure multi-year
ice thickness CHC / NRC

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Future Research Needs

Additional environment data collection

and analysis

Multi-year ice and extreme ice features

data
Ice conditions data for marine
operations

Further development of ice load and ice

scour models
Development of a Beaufort Sea ice environment database

Common comprehensive data set to support future design

Provide transparency to stakeholders, regulatory

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In Summary

The Arctic is a challenging

environment

Past exploration and current

offshore structures have
provided significant
knowledge

Further research will

provide important new
data to optimize designs
facilitate collaboration
with stakeholders on
future development
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Thank you

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