Brutus Project Overview: "Challenges and Results"

Abstract Brutus is Shell's fifth tension leg platform (TLP) installed in the Gulf of Mexico. It is located in 2985 feet of water in Green Canyon Block 158 and is 100% owned by Shell. The estimated ultimate recovery is about 250 million barrels of oil equivalent and the total cost is expected to be less than $750 MM including pipelines and wells but excluding lease costs. Brutus is expected to be Shell's next major producer in the Gulf of Mexico with design rates of 100,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 million cubic feet of gas per day. This paper will provide a general overview of the Brutus project. This will include a comparison of similarities and differences between Brutus and other Shell TLPs. The Brutus project has integrated learnings, designs and components from many previous projects while also adding capability and technology for deepwater hub processing, hydrocarbon dewpoint control of the export gas, and a combination use drilling/production riser system. The Brutus project has significantly improved overall performance. When benchmarked against comparable projects in Shell, the cost is 17% lower and the schedule from construction funding to first oil is 7 months shorter than previous best in class. This has been accomplished while maintaining Shell's focus on quality and HSE. The early uptime performance of the facility after start-up has also been outstanding with facility uptime averaging 98% over the first five months. Introduction The Brutus platform is located approximately 155 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana in the Green Canyon 158 block as shown on the map in Figure 1. The platform is an 8-slot Tension Leg Platform (TLP) in 2985 feet of water. A photograph of the completed platform just after installation is shown in Figure 2. Major components of the platform are shown in Figure 3 with a brief description of size, weight, and fabricator. The hull and deck configuration is similar to the Mars and Ram/Powell TLPs. However, the hull has been upgraded to provide additional displacement capacity with total displacement of 54,700 short tons and significant additions have been made for hub capabilities and gas processing equipment. The platform is designed to handle tieback of up to five subsea fields. The facilities are designed for a throughput capacity of 100,000 BOPD and 150 MMCFD through two separate processing trains. Oil is transported 25.5 miles through a 20" pipeline to the South Timbalier 301 B Platform where it ties into the Amberjack gathering system. Gas is transported 24 miles through a 20" pipeline to the Ship Shoal 332 A Platform where it ties into the Manta Ray gathering system. A high level project schedule is provided in Figure 4. System Selection An extensive system selection process was applied at Brutus with numerous type and sizes of systems considered. This included Spars, Ship based systems, subsea, and TLPs.