Nathan Barrett is an Engineering Manager for BP’s Quad 204 development in the North Sea, a harsh weather floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel due to be commissioned in 2016 in the North Atlantic west of Shetland.
At 270m long, 52m wide and weighing over 100,000 tonnes, Quad 204 is bigger than the Royal Navy’s latest QE aircraft carriers and has been designed and manufactured at different locations around the world. The FPSO covers two fields and 53 existing wells, 25 new wells will be added. It will be able to flow up 130,000 barrels a day of oil and recover up to 500 million barrels in the future
PE caught up with Nathan as the platform takes shape in a ‘mega shipyard’ in South Korea.
Can you describe what you do?
The last six years I’ve managed the Quad 204 engineering from the pre-concept selection stage - with just a few people in the team in Aberdeen, to being based in London to do the FEED, where we were a dozen engineers from different disciplines, through to the detailed engineering stage with four teams based in Aberdeen, Monaco, Singapore and Korea.
At its peak, up to 100 BP engineers spread over four locations worked on the project and over a thousand engineering contractors.
I moved to Singapore during the detailed engineering stage where the topsides were completed. The hull of the FPSO was done in South Korea.
Why is the design and construction of Quad 204 spread across four different locations?
The project started in 2007 with the subsea engineering team and modifying the existing facilities in the Schiehallion and Loyal fields. This had to be in Aberdeen because that is where the expertise and knowledge is.
We needed the world leader in turrets because of its size. It’s the largest turret produced for oil production. The best contractor in the world for turrets, a company called SBM Offshore, is in Monaco.
Then the capability to physically build such a large vessel in the timescale we had meant we had to go to one of the ‘mega-yards’ in Korea.
The engineering contractor for designing the FPSO was a company called KBR, which is based in Singapore. The hull design was done by Hyundai, a company we have lots of experience of working with.
Technically, what impresses you the most about Quad 204?
Aside from the sheer size, the design. There is a large hole through our floating platform where the turret sits and the mooring lines fix the turret onto the seabed. The FPSO rotates around the turret – the ship has to face into the weather - and we have a number of flexible risers fixed to the turret to allow the platform to move back and forth whilst producing from the sea bed.
Within the turret all of the production fluids are within the manifold, the flow to the topside is through the swivel stack, which is torodial in shape.
Swivel stack: The vessel is able to rotate around a turret so it is always facing into the bad weather
It offers a way to operate in harsh weather environments. But the cost of producing oil from harsh environments is more because of the complexity and cost. Companies like BP have developed the equipment and put the technology into action.
The automation aspect of the FPSO is also impressive. It means the number of people who will operate the platform offshore is just 125. A lot of the work will be done by people in Aberdeen through remote control systems and fibre optic communications in an “ACE”, an advanced collaborative environment.
How much do you travel?
The size and complexity of the project entails a lot of travel. The mix of meetings, phone calls, reviewing of technical aspects, needs to be done either face-to-face, with teleconference and via telepresence.
It’s a very tricky balance to manage between work and family life. With offices in the US, Europe and Asia, you could work 24/7 if you chose to. Prioritising challenges is key.
South Korea and Singapore is where I am the most because that is where the platform is being built and readied so there has been a lot of time moving to and from Asia. How do you find working in Asia?
Culturally it’s different. It has its advantages depending on what you want to achieve. The UK has a very open and flat organisational structure – you can have senior and junior people in the same room sharing different perspectives to generate a consensus. The downside to that is that even when things are done and dusted, people still like to be inventive with solutions.
Final phases: The FPSO should leave Korea next year and will be installed in the North Sea during 2015 and 2016
In Korea there is a respect of hierarchy in society and culture that carries through to the work environment. The positive is that once a decision has been made, everyone is fully committed to the course of action. This works extremely well for manufacturing and when the aims are clear. The downside is you need to be careful and manage relationships with respect. Things acceptable in western society, like visibly losing patience, can cause problems.
What’s most challenging about the work?
Because it’s a big project, the challenges can range from leadership and negotiation issues down to technical issues, which is a nice mix. It all has to be prioritised and different solutions are required, from technical expertise to networking.
Such a large project also requires a very large commitment in time and effort from everyone involved.
What do you like most about your job?
I like the mix, the diversity of requirements and dynamics at play in such a large project. Each month and each project phase has different and interesting challenges. In the medium term the planning is interesting – what’re the milestones, where are we with which part. The longer term is all about considering the high level strategy, managing the key stakeholders like government and health and safety organisations.
Now, you can look out the window and see the platform taking shape. Putting a boiler suit on and walking around it with people who have been involved with the project since it was a blank sheet of paper is very satisfying and brings home the sheer size of the undertaking.
Where have you enjoyed working the most?
I enjoyed each phase of the project. I’ve enjoyed Singapore and my first time of living and working in the Far East. In Korea the ability to move a project forwards at pace has impressed me. But it’s good to get back to London and the UK sometimes.