25 August 2013 – Technip reported Friday that it has been awarded a contract by Shell Offshore Inc. to lay the world’s deepest gas pipeline at the Stones field in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Technip said it has been awarded an engineering, procurement and installation contract for the development of subsea infrastructure for the field, which is located in the Walker Ridge area as a water depth of approximately 9,500 feet.
The development will host the deepest floating, production, storage and offloading unit in the world and will be Shell’s first FPSO in the Gulf of Mexico.
Technip said it will be in charge of installing the subsea production system and Stones’ lateral gas pipeline. Technip’s operating center in Houston, Texas will perform the overall project management. Flowlines and risers will be welded at Technip’s spoolbase in Mobile, Alabama, before offshore installation is performed during the second half of 2014 by the Deep Blue – Technip’s deepwater pipelay vessel.
David Dickson, Technip’s senior vice president for the North America region, commented in a company statement:
“With greater depths come greater challenges for our clients and we are delighted to help Shell push back subsea frontiers by laying the deepest gas pipeline worldwide. With the award of this high-profile project, Technip confirms its subsea leadership and keeps differentiating itself through innovation to remain at the forefront of frontier projects.”
*Rigzone