ICON Engineering was awarded an offshore field development feasibility study by an international energy company, for a potential development offshore Australia. The study was based around tying the new field back to an existing platform located approximately ten kilometres away, in fifty metres of water depth.
What the Feasibility Study Covered
ICON’s workscope evaluated two principal concepts: a subsea development, and a wellhead platform development. For each option, ICON technically defined the physical aspects of the field facilities, provided cost and schedule estimates, and weighed the relative risks and opportunities.
The study also assessed the pipelines needed to support three-phase production, gas lift, and their associated control systems. Both rigid and flexible pipeline options were evaluated against capital and operating costs, schedule, installation methods, pipeline stabilisation, and vessel availability — noting that, for a relatively short rigid pipeline system, total installed cost is significantly affected by the need to mobilise a pipelay vessel from Asia. On the control side, ICON compared umbilical-based and satellite-based control systems, and assessed the impact of additional producing wells on a risked, incremental basis for each development scheme.
Designing for Australia’s Remote Offshore Logistics
The platform engineering focused on a minimum facilities design installable by either a jack-up drilling rig or a conventional derrick barge, as part of ICON’s wider Studies & Concept Engineering capability. The subsea manifold, pipeline, and umbilical engineering focused on installation options, delivery period, expandability, and total installed cost.
One of the major considerations was decoupling the timing of offshore pipeline and umbilical installation from the timing of the wells, platform, and subsea manifold work. In Australia, where remoteness drives large mobilisation costs and limited vessel and rig availability, having field hardware ready for the start of the good weather season — and being able to take advantage of any vessels of opportunity already in the region — is a genuine commercial priority, not just good practice.
ICON worked closely with the client to define a Facilities Basis covering both development schemes and their sub-options, weighing the ability to produce additional reserves against limited increases to initial capital outlay. For the full project write-up and field data, see ICON’s project page (once the canonical issue above is resolved).
