This issue has been time and again highlighted by Iranian petroleum minister, Bijan Zangeneh. One of major plans pursued by the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum has been supporting contractors and manufacturers and paving the way for the establishment of new companies.
Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) is a company playing a key role in the development of Iran’s top priority project – South Pars gas field.
The main activity of this company is construction, installation and operation of platforms and subsea pipelines. It has so far supplied structures to Phases 12, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 of South Pars.
In order to get first-hand account of IOEC’s activities and potentialities, Iran Petroleum’s correspondent has visited the IOEC onshore yard in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr.
Khorramshahr onshore yard is the IOEC manufacturing factory. Launched 13 years ago, it comprises five yards. Three of these yards are used for building the structures, while the other two are used as stores. Nearly half of IOEC staff work in Khorramshahr yard. More than 4,000 workers are active in this yard during its busiest days. This yard is located in Khorramshahr city and near Arvandroud River. Its position is strategic due to quite calm water and appropriate depth of water in this port.
Forouzan Platform Back Home
Abdorreza Alipour, director of Khorramshahr yards and head of the provincial Khuzestan branch of IOEC, highlighted the construction of two platforms for phases 20 and 21 of South Pars and three others for Phase 19 of the giant offshore gas field which Iran shares with Qatar.
“Currently, the platform of Phase 21 is 87% complete and is predicted to be delivered offshore by the end of Farvardin 1395 (the first month on the Iranian calendar year which starts on March 21),” he told Iran Petroleum in an interview.
He added that the platform of Phase 20 is 81% complete.
Noting that Phase 19 of South Pars involves platforms 19A, 19B and 19C, Alipour said 19C, a priority of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), was completed four months ago and delivered offshore. He said that 19A is 77% complete and 19B is 42% ready.
Alipour said a new IOEC plan is to complete the platform of Forouzan oil field, adding: “The construction of this platform was assigned under the former directorate to a South Korean company. Several years after that, the construction of this platform has not progressed properly. Therefore, the IOEC Directorate decided to bring Forouzan platform back from South Korea in one month to be completed in Khorramshahr onshore yard.”
He said the reason behind the sluggish construction of Forouzan platform and the ensuing decision to return it to Iran was related to the type of contracts by the former directorate of IOEC.
He added that completion of this platform will be prioritized immediately after its return home.
“Forouzan platform weighs 7,800 tons. After its installation and operation, production from Forouzan field will increase from 40,000 barrels to 80,000 barrels,” said Alipour.
Recalling that 60,000 tons of structures (equaling 20 oil and gas platforms) could be constructed at the same time in Khorramshahr onshore yard, he said: “Currently, four platforms are under construction. Therefore, nearly two-thirds of the capacity of this yard is inactive, but it will become active after the arrival of Forouzan platform. However, there is still capacity for new projects.”
Referring to the IOEC’s capabilities in different sectors like specialized human resources, vessels with unique capability of installation, construction of platforms, pipe laying, construction and installation of metal structures, welding and lifting systems, Alipour said: “In the light of these capabilities, IOEC is able to handle projects overseas in addition to domestic projects and cooperate with top international companies. To that effect, we have had negotiations with some countries in the region including Iraq.”
He pointed to the projects that have been completed in Khorramshahr onshore yard over the past two years and said some pipeline related activities in phases 15, 16, 17, 18 and 21 and installation, pre-commissioning and commissioning operations in phases 15, 16, 18, 12 and 19 are under way.
“Moreover, pipe laying operations in the main pipelines of phases 20 and 21 and shore pooling in phases 14, 22 and 23 and pipe laying in phase 12 have been done by this company. The pipes for phase 22 have been installed and the pipes for phase 14 are ready for delivery,” said Alipour.
Phase 21 Platform Ready
Reza Ravanestan, director for the construction of structures at Phases 20 and 21 of South Pars, said IOEC is responsible for the construction of two platforms in these phases, each weighing 2,500 tons.
“With the installation of these two platforms and their structures on 11 wells, the production of these phases will increase by 57 mcm of gas,” he said.
He added that the initial deadline envisaged for the construction of these structures under the contract was 35 months, which was extended to 77 months due to international sanctions and ensuing delay in the supply of some equipment.
“At present, two main jackets of the platform along with flares are ready and have been installed offshore,” he said.
He added that the platform for phase 21 will be installed and launched by mid-April. The platform of phase 20 will be installed and launched two to three months after the platform of phase 21.
Ravanestan said the structures of both phases, including platforms, weigh 15,000 tons.
“So far, 9,000 tons of these structures have been installed and the remaining 6,000 tons will be installed and launched on schedule,” he said.
Ravanestan highlighted maximum use of domestic capabilities in building structures for phases 20 and 21 of South Pars, saying: “In terms of weight, more than 30% of the equipment we need has been supplied by domestic companies and subsidiaries of IOEC. Meantime, the human resources employed in this project are all staff and Iranian specialists. Only in the installation of foreign-made equipment, a senior supervisor from the manufacturing company has been present to install and launch the equipment.”
He said that the lifting of international sanctions on Iran following the implementation of Tehran’s nuclear deal with six world powers in January would affect the quality and pace of IOEC work. He, however, said that the sanctions relief would not have any impact on the structures of phases 20 and 21 because they are in their final stages.
Ravanestan highlighted the IOEC’s capability to operate projects overseas and team up with foreign companies, saying: “Currently, our main problem is the procurement of some key equipment like inconel (an alloy of nickel containing chromium and iron, resistant to corrosion at high temperatures) which we cannot manufacture in the country. But we hope that with the lifting of sanctions and the acquisition of necessary technology and the startup of its production line in the country, this problem will be also resolved.”
Records Smashed in Phase 19
Abbas Assadi, director of construction in phase 19 of South Pars at IOEC, highlighted the construction of three platforms – 19A, 19B and 19C – and their belongings.
“These structures weigh 18,000 tons in total. Under the contract, operations for the construction of this project started in Khordad 1390 (June 2011) and based on priority, 19C was first completed, installed and launched due to its connection to SPD2,” he said.
“The next priority for IOEC under the contract with the client is the completion and installation of platform 19A and in the final step, platform 19B will be completed and installed,” he added.
Assadi noted that the construction of these structures started by building three jackets, saying: “After construction, loading and installation of jackets, platform 19C was loaded out in Mehr (October) this [calendar] year and installed in Aban (November).”
In addition to the jacket of Platform 19A, Assadi said, all but other equipment has been installed offshore. He added that a single equipment, a bridge connecting platforms, still remains to be installed. The platform itself is likely to be loaded out and installed in coming months.
According to Assadi, platform 19B will be loaded out and installed 4 to 5 months after platform 19A. He said that 19B is in a compact form.
Assadi said the imposition of international sanctions against Iran’s petroleum industry and the ensuing delay in the delivery of some equipment overshadowed the IOEC activities. “However, by adopting management approaches and strategic methods, we did not allow the job to come to a halt and even in certain cases we smashed records,” he said.
Highlighting records set throughout this project, Assadi said that the first record in this project was related to the construction of the jacket of platform 19A. He said that construction of this jacket lasted five months while normally it takes nine months.
“This jacket weighs around 300 tons and no domestic companies have so far built it. Of course, similar jackets had been built by foreign companies for phases 9 and 10 of South Pars, but it had taken 9 months,” he said.
Assadi said another record set by IOEC was in the construction of structures at phase 19 and the construction of jacket for platform 19B.
“As you know, the jacket is vertical on one side and lateral on the other. Normally, the vertical side is faced down to earth, but in this jacket it is on the contrary,” he added.
Assadi said that designing platform 19B was copied on SPD2 maps, noting that it was the first time IOEC engineers reverse-engineered this platform.
He also said that while the topdrives of platforms and jackets were under construction in 2012, seven floors of the platforms were also loaded out in a record-setting operation.
Assadi said the second floor of platform 19B is heavy and weighs more than 400 tons, while earlier heavy floors weighed between 250 and 300 tons.
Highlighting observation of safety standards in this project, he said: “We had more than 7.5 million man-hours in this project and on average 500 people a day were working. So far there have been no fatal accidents.”
Assadi said that around 50% of the equipment used in the structures of phase 19 of South Pars has been supplied by Iranian manufacturers.
Source: Iran Petroleum Monthly
By Hamid-Reza Shakeri-Rad
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