Flow Assurance Design and Initial Operating Experience from Blind Faith in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses the flow assurance design and operating strategies for the high pressure high temperature Blind Faith development located in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Key fluid property issues identified during the early design stages and appropriate flow assurance strategies adopted to mitigate risks in developing the field will be presented. Design aspects of the subsea insulation systems deployed to support flow assurance will be discussed in detail. An OLGA® model based Flow Management Tool (FMT) was developed prior to field start-up to provide asset team engineers and operators with live information on calculated well production rates, steady state thermal performance of the flowlines with forward looking projections on cooldown times for hydrate management. Results from initial benchmarking efforts aimed at comparing the flow assurance design against actual subsea system operating performance will be presented. Field observed cooldown data for subsea equipment (trees and manifold) and data relevant to flowline thermal performance will be presented as part of the discussion on benchmarking efforts. Results will be presented from field tests done after start-up to test impact of flow assurance strategies such as LDHI (Low Dosage Hydrate Inhibitor) injection for hydrate mitigation on the topsides water handling system. Lessons learned and best practices from the start-up and early operating phase of the project will be shared.