Damus to build largest local platform for BHP Billiton

Local contractor Damus Limited has been awarded a fabrication contract by BHP Billiton to construct the largest platform ever constructed and loaded in Trinidad and Tobago, the Kairi-1 (K-1) Wellhead Protection Platform. The K-1 platform, which will be used in the Angostura Development, located east of Trinidad will be one of the key components for the production of oil.  It will support drilling and production of up to 15 oil and gas wells for the next 20 years. Larry Johnson, offshore facilities delivery manager, BHP said Damus Limited in partnership with Gulf Island Fabricators (GIF) in the Gulf of Mexico has been awarded fabrication of the deck for the K-1 platform. Johnson said the total value of this fabrication contract is US$4.5 million. Fifty-four percent of this contract will be fulfilled by Damus, which translates into a historic 55,000 man-hours of work for Damus, as it has led to new transfer of technology in specific construction techniques required for the offshore platform industry.

BHP Billiton has sponsored Damus’ personnel travelling to the Gulf of Mexico to learn these techniques. The TT labour pool at La Romain and La Brea will peak at 80 men and an average 40 men respectively for six months, commencing in October 2003. Johnson said Damus’ challenge is to support installation of K-1 in April 2004. “This will be a considerable feat as the K-1 deck has four levels and a helideck, weighs 550 tons, measures 18 metres square and 18 metres tall, and is larger than any offshore structure assembled in TT.” The platform will be assembled at the La Brea Industrial Development Company Limited (LABIDCO). Garry J Walker, project director, Angostura Field Development said the Angostura Development follows the largest oil discovery in TT for some 30 years. He noted that the peak production rate from this development will be around 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

He noted that the commitment to fabricate the K-1 deck in TT was not a new one. “Unbundling contracts, where packages of work such as the K-1 deck are broken into smaller components for tendering purposes, in order to give national suppliers a better chance of competing — is part of BHP Billiton’s operating philosophy.” He noted that BHP did this because “it was the right thing to do.” “Somebody has to take the first step. We took the challenge of this first step, because our worldwide BHP Billiton Charter values building of local capabilities and we do this throughout the world.” Walker said BHP has also pioneered the advance of national capabilities through the re-introduction of detail petroleum design engineering into TT in November 2002. “This has been absent in this country for decades.

This is another crucial step in truly developing a model for TT in respect of its upstream petroleum industry.” Sheldon Gomez, project engineer (Aripo), BHP, said until more in the industry recognise the importance of doing detail design engineering work in this country as BHP has done, and truly growing the skills of young engineers to perform this work, the fabrication industry may never develop to its full potential. “We have the talent, the fine engineers, the real potential to develop design engineering as an export industry. We simply need more operators to share the confidence BHP has shown in the human resource of TT.”