Forcenergy, VECO unveil living quarters module for Osprey drilling platform

Completed platform will be used for exploratory drilling at Cook Inlet’s Redoubt Shoal Field

Tom Hall

BNA Staff Writer

Forcenergy Inc. unveiled its $4.5 million living quarters module for the Osprey exploratory drilling platform on Feb. 19, during ceremonies at the VECO yard of the North Star Terminal and Stevedore Co.

Forcenergy Vice President Gary Carlson said at the ceremonies that the module — designed and built entirely in Alaska — will be barged to Korea sometime in March, installed on the main drilling platform and then the entire platform will be barged back to Cook Inlet where it will be set up at the Redoubt Shoal field.

Early in March, Forcenergy said that the project has been delayed and that the living quarters module will stay in Anchorage for the time being. (See story on page A1.)

Built by VECO Construction Inc., the primary contractor, the project created 10 full time jobs, took 20,000 man hours to complete and, at the peak of construction, involved more than 80 subcontractors.

Praising the project’s Alaska workers and subcontractors, Bill Allen, VECO Corp.’s CEO said, “We are proving that we can compete with the rest of the world building these modules.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who also spoke at the dedication, echoed Allen’s remarks and added, “We need more people to think about how to use Alaska know-how and Alaska ingenuity to get a job done without reaching out and doing it somewhere else.”

In a prepared statement, Forcenergy officials said that the Osprey drilling platform will be the first platform installed in Cook Inlet since 1986. With almost 2,200 square feet on each of its three stories, the 300 ton unit features a common kitchen and dining area, berthing facilities for a 55 man crew, centrally located control systems and a helicopter deck on the roof.

Project architect Wally Swanson told PNA that the module was designed to withstand 140 mile per hour winds and a fair amount of jostling.

The completed platform will feature, in addition to the living quarters, two 60 ton cranes with 120 foot booms and a flare boom; its four 28 foot diameter piles will each contain seven well slots for drilling.

Carlson told PNA that when the 3,200 ton platform is finally in place, the total cost, including the engineering, transportation and the quarters, will be in the $30 million to $35 million range. “The last platform was set in the Inlet for $400 million,” he said.

“If the exploratory drilling is successful,” Forcenergy officials said in a Feb. 16 statement, “it (the platform) will be converted to a production platform at a later date.”