Aramco makes history by sailing away its mega offshore Gas Compression Platform (GCP) from Qingdao, China on October 24, 2024. The 20,000 ton structure was fabricated at Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Offshore Engineering Co. fabrication yard over a period of 32 months with more than 8.5 million incident-free manhours. The platform will be installed in the Arabian Gulf in Marjan field as part of the Aramco’s new Gas-Oil Separation Plant (GOSP-4).
Once completed, Marjan GOSP-4 complex will be the largest offshore facility to be built in Aramco’s history consisting of six main platforms interlinked with eleven bridges. More than 165,000 metric tons of steel was used to construct the complex, equivalent to the amount of steel used to build fifteen (15) Eiffel Towers in France.
“Over the years, Aramco has gained extensive experience executing offshore fabrication and installations. However, it is the first time in company’s history that we have to construct and loadout a mega-structure of this magnitude and complexity, and transport them from East Asia to the Arabian Gulf with around 7,000 km journey crossing through rough seas and unpredictable weather conditions” said Hamad Shaiban, Senior Manager.
The mega-structure is 75 meters wide, 60 meters long, and 37 meters high consisting of five levels. After construction was completed, the GCP platform was skidded on-board an X-class Heavy transport vessel (HTV) specifically modified to transport and install the GCP at sea using the floatover method.
The platform integrates 132 sets of mechanical equipment, including five two-stage compressors, 230,000 dia-inch of pipe welding and 405,000 m of cables, with a total power consumption of 90 MW to cater for compressing 1.2 MMSCFD per day of associated gas from the field.
“Collaboration with our Chinese partners to build such as a massive offshore structure was key in delivering the Marjan program, and meeting its objective of increasing Marjan Field’s maximum sustainable capacity by 300,000 barrels of oil and 1.2 MMSCFD. We hope this reinforces Aramco’s long-term mutual relationship with China, and fosters greater collaborations in the area of offshore modular construction.” said Khalid Sulaim, MIPD Director.