MAUI A gas drilling platform
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 8:54 pm
The New Zealand Post gives the following information by this stamp:
This stamp features the Maui gas drilling platform situated 53 km off the Taranaki Coast. The gas field over which it stands was discovered in 1969 and is among the 20 largest in the world.
When the stamp was issued only one drilling platform was used in the Maui gas field, she was the drilling platform MAUI A. Comparing the stamp with photo’s of this platform she must be depict on this stamp.
The following URL has more info on the drilling platform: http://www.stos.co.nz/maui.asp
Discovery and development of Maui
The Taranaki coastline has always been a place where oil and gas existed in great profusion with the first seeps observed on Ngamotu Beach in New Plymouth in 1865.
A syndicate headed by a local publican attempted to produce oil commercially but only managed three barrels of oil before abandoning their well.
Just over a century later, in 1969, a joint venture consisting of Shell, BP and Todd Petroleum discovered the Maui gas field – one of the largest in the world at the time. Due to the size of the development, government investment was sought and agreement on the terms and conditions was reached in 1973 enabling commercial drilling to begin.
But first a drilling platform had to be found which could withstand one of the most hostile environments of any offshore discovery. No existing designs were suitable for the extreme wind and waves and so designers called on every resource available – developing testing techniques as they went – to build a tower up to the task.
Nippon Kokan Kabushiki Kaisha (NKK), one of the largest steel manufacturers in Japan, won the tender to fabricate the tower and began construction in 1974. The tower was built at the Tsu shipyard before crossing more than 8,400 kilometres of ocean to its new home in New Zealand.
The journey was a massive undertaking in itself with weather and sea conditions just two of the unpredictable variables the planners had to deal with. Typhoons, tropical storms, mechanical breakdowns and many other problems were all overcome until the tower arrived in Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand’s South Island on November 26, 1975 – 64 days after leaving Japan.
After checks and repairs to the tower were carried out, the process of upending the tower began on January 3, 1976. Bad weather delayed the project for several months before the platform was officially handed over to the drilling teams on December 27, 1978.
Full production from Maui A began in 1979 with 14 wells drilled from the platform in a water depth of 110 metres (a deep water platform for its time), 35 kilometres off the Taranaki coast. A 20 inch stainless steel pipeline connects Maui A to the shore-based Maui Production Station at Oaonui.
The Maui Production Station processes and treats the gas to bring it to pipeline specifications. Condensate is also treated while LPG and associated gases are removed for further processing and sale.
Maui B was installed in 1992 to allow full drainage of hydrocarbons from the field and later to allow production of oil from the deeper reservoirs. It is situated 15 kilometres from the Maui A platform and is designed to be unmanned – being remotely operated from Maui A.
Maui B is connected to Maui A via an undersea pipeline through which gas and condensate is transported. The oil was fed directly to ‘Whakaaropai’ a FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) installed in 1996 for processing and storage until its decommission in 2006. A total of 12 wells have been drilled on Maui B.
Maui WOW facts
• When Maui was discovered in 1969, it was one of the six largest gas fields in the Western world – and only the second commercially-viable find in New Zealand.
• The Maui A platform was built to withstand waves of 23 metres or more, winds of 163 knots, and currents of up to 3.4 knots. It can also stand earthquakes up to 8.5 on the Richter scale.
• The legs supporting Maui A extend through 110 metres before reaching the seabed – and are further driven between 70 and 80 metres into the seabed to anchor the platform in place.
• Maui A platform operated for 15 years before its first planned shutdown (lasting five days) to maintain key equipment on the pipelines.
• The Maui field covers 157 square kilometres and lies 3,000 metres below the sea floor.
• Maui operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• The Maui A platform weighs 20,000 tonnes.
• While the platform can sleep 71 people, only 40-45 people are usually on board.
• Shift workers work 12 hours on, 12 hours off, two weeks on, two weeks off.
• The platform has a converter to turn salt water into fresh water and can use up to 40 tonnes of water a day.
New Zealand 1978 12c sg1174, scott?
This stamp features the Maui gas drilling platform situated 53 km off the Taranaki Coast. The gas field over which it stands was discovered in 1969 and is among the 20 largest in the world.
When the stamp was issued only one drilling platform was used in the Maui gas field, she was the drilling platform MAUI A. Comparing the stamp with photo’s of this platform she must be depict on this stamp.
The following URL has more info on the drilling platform: http://www.stos.co.nz/maui.asp
Discovery and development of Maui
The Taranaki coastline has always been a place where oil and gas existed in great profusion with the first seeps observed on Ngamotu Beach in New Plymouth in 1865.
A syndicate headed by a local publican attempted to produce oil commercially but only managed three barrels of oil before abandoning their well.
Just over a century later, in 1969, a joint venture consisting of Shell, BP and Todd Petroleum discovered the Maui gas field – one of the largest in the world at the time. Due to the size of the development, government investment was sought and agreement on the terms and conditions was reached in 1973 enabling commercial drilling to begin.
But first a drilling platform had to be found which could withstand one of the most hostile environments of any offshore discovery. No existing designs were suitable for the extreme wind and waves and so designers called on every resource available – developing testing techniques as they went – to build a tower up to the task.
Nippon Kokan Kabushiki Kaisha (NKK), one of the largest steel manufacturers in Japan, won the tender to fabricate the tower and began construction in 1974. The tower was built at the Tsu shipyard before crossing more than 8,400 kilometres of ocean to its new home in New Zealand.
The journey was a massive undertaking in itself with weather and sea conditions just two of the unpredictable variables the planners had to deal with. Typhoons, tropical storms, mechanical breakdowns and many other problems were all overcome until the tower arrived in Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand’s South Island on November 26, 1975 – 64 days after leaving Japan.
After checks and repairs to the tower were carried out, the process of upending the tower began on January 3, 1976. Bad weather delayed the project for several months before the platform was officially handed over to the drilling teams on December 27, 1978.
Full production from Maui A began in 1979 with 14 wells drilled from the platform in a water depth of 110 metres (a deep water platform for its time), 35 kilometres off the Taranaki coast. A 20 inch stainless steel pipeline connects Maui A to the shore-based Maui Production Station at Oaonui.
The Maui Production Station processes and treats the gas to bring it to pipeline specifications. Condensate is also treated while LPG and associated gases are removed for further processing and sale.
Maui B was installed in 1992 to allow full drainage of hydrocarbons from the field and later to allow production of oil from the deeper reservoirs. It is situated 15 kilometres from the Maui A platform and is designed to be unmanned – being remotely operated from Maui A.
Maui B is connected to Maui A via an undersea pipeline through which gas and condensate is transported. The oil was fed directly to ‘Whakaaropai’ a FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) installed in 1996 for processing and storage until its decommission in 2006. A total of 12 wells have been drilled on Maui B.
Maui WOW facts
• When Maui was discovered in 1969, it was one of the six largest gas fields in the Western world – and only the second commercially-viable find in New Zealand.
• The Maui A platform was built to withstand waves of 23 metres or more, winds of 163 knots, and currents of up to 3.4 knots. It can also stand earthquakes up to 8.5 on the Richter scale.
• The legs supporting Maui A extend through 110 metres before reaching the seabed – and are further driven between 70 and 80 metres into the seabed to anchor the platform in place.
• Maui A platform operated for 15 years before its first planned shutdown (lasting five days) to maintain key equipment on the pipelines.
• The Maui field covers 157 square kilometres and lies 3,000 metres below the sea floor.
• Maui operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• The Maui A platform weighs 20,000 tonnes.
• While the platform can sleep 71 people, only 40-45 people are usually on board.
• Shift workers work 12 hours on, 12 hours off, two weeks on, two weeks off.
• The platform has a converter to turn salt water into fresh water and can use up to 40 tonnes of water a day.
New Zealand 1978 12c sg1174, scott?