Video: World's Biggest Crane Vessel Installs Platform Topsides

Using the world's largest crane vessel, Sleipnir, the Dutch marine construction firm Heerema has successfully installed the platform topsides modules for the expansion of Equinor's Peregrino field off Brazil. Sleipnir is fresh off a record-setting 15,300 tonne crane lift for the Leviathan platform installation in the Mediterranean, which it completed last September. 

The Peregrino field in Brazil's prolific Campos Basin is Equinor's largest international endeavor as an offshore operator. The well site is located about 50 nm off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in shallow water depths of about 330 feet. The field contains an estimated reserve of 400 million barrels recoverable; about 160 million barrels have been extracted since 2011, and the field currently puts out about 70,000-80,000 bpd. Onsite facilities include two bottom-fixed platforms, WHP-A and WHP-B, which are connected by umbilicals to an FPSO. The current project entails adding a third platform, WHP-C, which will have enough reach to access new resevoirs and add about 270 million barrels to the field's reserves.

Construction for the topsides modules for WHP-C began in 2016, and the first set were shipped for staging and testing in 2018. Over the last several weeks, they were all installed on the platform jacket by the giant heavy lift crane vessel Sleipnir. Now that the modules are in place, the floatel GranEnergia Olympia has connected to the platform and will provide additional accommodations during the commissioning phase. In total, about 880 personnel will work offshore to prepare the platform for operations, Equinor said in a statement.

While the great majority of Equinor's activity is in oil and gas, the firm is also venturing into offshore wind, where its decades of experience with traditional offshore energy give it an advantage in project development. It is a founding member of the Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition and a leading innovator in floating wind platform R&D.