Testing North Sea jackets
The fixing platforms are built on steel legs and were moved from Italy to Aberdeen using tugs, sinking into the seabed at 60 metres deep
Exova’s testing services played an important role in the testing of steel jackets prior to the launch of the Jasmine rig for the central North Sea.
It is anticipated that the first production from the oil rig will occur near the end of 2012 and the core development is expected to produce at an annual gross peak sales rate of more than 88,000 barrels of oil.
Exova has worked with Italian company Rosetti Marino to develop and test the wellhead platform jacket, the riser platform jacket and the living quarters platform jacket.
The riser platform jacket and the living quarters jacket will be installed in April 2012, with the wellhead jacket, designed to protect the fixings, already installed in May this year.
The fixing platforms are built on steel legs and were moved from Italy to Aberdeen using tugs, sinking into the seabed at 60 metres deep. The legs support a deck with space for drilling rigs, production facilities and crew quarters.
Various types of structure were used on the jackets, including steel, concrete caisson, floating steel and floating concrete.
The Exova laboratory in Crema, Italy, conducted material testing of the jacket. The laboratory performed mechanical and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) testing as well as conducting a technical investigation into the welding of the offshore jacket to qualify the materials and weldings themselves for the jacket construction.
Mauro Ostacoli, general manager at Exova’s Crema laboratory, said: “The Jasmine is a highly significant North Sea discovery which we are delighted to be working on. The project is a demonstration of our expertise in the testing of materials and structures in the Oil and Gas industry and we look forward to working on the project further over the coming year.”
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