Williams commission the the Norphlet deepwater gathering pipeline system, which was built by affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell and CNOOC
Image; The Shell-operated Appomattox Floating Production System in the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico. Photo: courtesy of Shell.
Williams has acquired Norphlet deepwater gathering pipeline system in the Gulf of Mexico that connects offshore output to its Mobile Bay processing plant in the US.
The pipeline system extends 54 miles (87km) from the Shell-operated Appomattox Floating Production System in 7,400ft of water to the Transco Main Pass 261A junction platform, located approximately 60 miles (96.5km) south of Mobile, Alabama.
Norphlet gas gathering system was built by affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell and CNOOC
The firm has now commissioned the 16-inch-diameter Norphlet gas gathering system, which was built by affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell and China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC).
Williams said that the acquisition extends its pipeline network reach by connecting Williams’ existing Transco offshore pipeline lateral to the prolific Jurassic play in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Williams president and CEO Alan Armstrong said: “We are excited to participate in this Jurassic development with Shell and CNOOC.
“Shell has exhibited a tremendous history of successful large-scale developments across the Gulf of Mexico and early indications here are for that to continue in this Jurassic play with their additional discoveries.”
The gathering pipeline system is designed to have a gathering capacity of estimated 261 to 291 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas.
The Norphlet gathering pipeline system connects more than 33,000 acres of dedicated leases, to via the Transco lateral at the Main Pass 261A junction platform to the Williams’ Mobile Bay processing facility.
Williams noted that the deepwater gas gathering system has room for future growth with approximately 50% of the contractual capacity of the pipeline remain available for future producer discoveries.
Additionally, the completed project included the installation of a spare subsea connector for additional floating production system volumes, as well as modifications to Williams’ Mobile Bay processing facility.
Modification to the processing facility included a 118% expansion to the slug handling capacity and a 329% increase in stabilizing capacity.