Norwich, UK, 18 May 2020: Aquaterra Energy, a leader in global offshore engineering solutions, has been awarded the FEED (Front End Engineering and Design) contract by DeNovo Energy for a second Sea Swift platform to be located in the Zandolie field, off of the west coast of Trinidad and Tobago.

The award follows on from Aquaterra Energy’s successful design, build and installation of its Sea Swift conductor supported platform (CSP) for DeNovo Energy’s first west-coast field development, Iguana, in 2018. That platform was designed and delivered in 10 months. Since then, the Iguana structure has safely produced an average of 80 mmscf of natural gas – recording uptime of 100% in 2020 so far.

The latest project will see Aquaterra Energy apply modifications to the existing Iguana platform, conduct a review of the pipeline infrastructure and design a new single well CSP in 20m water depth destined for Zandolie. This platform is expected to be lighter and smaller than the Iguana structure and will be engineered for drilling and installation via a jack-up rig. Together these measures will significantly reduce project costs.

Addressing the scope of the project, Stewart Maxwell, Technical Director at Aquaterra Energy stated, “Similar to the Iguana platform, we will seek to provide a design and development solution that will enable DeNovo Energy to maximise fabrication opportunities in-country. We’re thrilled to be partnering with DeNovo on this FEED for a second Sea Swift CSP solution”.

The company is proud to have created multiple efficiencies across the DeNovo Iguana operations through intelligent engineering. “We are ready to take that experience and apply it to the Zandolie project to deliver a lighter, smaller platform designed with the environment in mind”, says Maxwell. “It’s extremely encouraging to still see projects such as this moving ahead in the current, low oil price climate. If an operator is considering a new platform installation, now is the time to progress. Even with this market uncertainty, overall project costs have been reduced, which should be a factor in any decision.”

Sea Swift is a minimum-facility offshore platform, that utilises innovative structural configurations to reduce the overall footprint of the facility, whilst ensuring the highest standard in platform integrity. The simplified design, reduced steel requirement and focus on using available infrastructure and fabrication facilities keep initial expenditure low, but also mitigate the risks of escalating project costs. The platform offers a low-risk, low-cost route to reduce time to first oil or gas production resulting in lower capital investment – without a compromise on the overall safety of the structure.

The work for DeNovo Energy is expected to be completed in Q3 2020.