Chukchi Sea would require massive platform structures

During his April presentation to the International Association for Energy Economics in Anchorage Anatoly Zolotukhin talked about platform designs for exploration drilling or for oil and gas production in the Chukchi Sea. Compared with regions such as the North Sea, maximum wave heights in the Chukchi are relatively benign, and water depths range from just 20 to 40 meters (66-131 feet), he said. But the presence of sea ice for 44 weeks of the year on average would require massively strong platform structures, attached to the seafloor.

One option is a concrete island drilling system, similar to the prototype Orlan platform offshore Sakhalin.

“Such a concrete island could be used in water depths of 12 to 17 meters (40-56 feet) and it’s designed for sustained ice drift,” Zolotukhin said.

But there are also steel designs that could work. And another possibility for a producing field is the use of subsea completions, as in the Snohvit gas field in the Norwegian Barents Sea.

Zolotukhin said it was important to develop international standards for structures used in the Arctic offshore.

—Alan Bailey