Houston-based Cal Dive International established another Gulf of Mexico first when it installed a reeled flowline/riser combination for Kerr-McGee in East High Island block A-379 in 350 ft. of water.
Cal Dive utilized its newly established Pipe Spool Base at their Morgan City, Louisiana operational headquarters to: weld, x-ray, sand blast and coat 14,000 ft. of 4.5 in. 337 wall pipe with fusion bonded epoxy. The pipe was reeled directly onto an 28.2 ft. installation reel provided by CDI's
strategic alliance partner Coflexip Stena Offshore.
CDI's procedure is to secure reels on a barge during the spooling process, in order to expedite transportation to the staging area. The flowline was laid by DP DSV Witch Queen from a subsea tree in East HI A-378B to the platform in East HI A-379 then hung in place as a conventional riser system utilizing standard riser clamps to secure it to the jacket leg.
Catenary risers systems are not new to the Gulf; however, this is the first time a flowline has been reeled off and hung in place with riser clamps. CDI vessel Cal Diver I completed the tie-in at the subsea tree and commissioned the flowline.