RHL’S SOLUTIONSARE TRANSFORMATIONALCONCEPTS WHICH WILL DELIVER:

• IMPROVED WORKFORCE SAFETY• THE TRANSITION FROM HELICOPTER TO VESSEL INTERVENTION• SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED COSTS

ACCESS SOLUTION FOROFFSHORE PLATFORMS

OverviewRHL is an engineering development company with several decades of invaluable experience in the Oil & Gas and Renewable Energy sectors. The Company has been granted 4 patents and further patent applications are under consideration:

• RHL’s Access Solution. Granted a European Patent (14731993.3) and registered

in the UK, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany,

France, Spain, Belgium and Albania. In addition, patent

applications have been filed in Australia (AP2014279822),

Canada (TBC), New Zealand (No. 715789) and the

USA (USP14/896,966).

• RHL’s Offshore Platform SolutionGranted a European Patent (15724352.8) and registered

in the United Kingdom, with further registrations to follow.

In addition, patent applications have been filed in

Australia (PCT/GB2015/051332), New Zealand (No. 726596)

and the USA (USP15/308,963).

• RHL’s Offshore Renewable Energy Solution

Granted a UK Patent (Patent Number: GB2507362) and an

International application has been filed under European

Patent No. 14715395.1.

• RHL’s Seawall TechnologyFiled with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office

(UKIPO) under UK Patent Application No: 1607031.0. And

an International Patent has been filed at the European

Patent Office (EPO) under application number

PCT/EP2017/060214.

Further, RHL’s Access Solution seeks to address the poor safety record associated

with helicopter access for the offshore oil & Gas Industry

TEMPORARYLIVING QUARTERS

OFFSHOREPLATFORM

CRANETEMPORARY OR PERMANENT

CREWTRANSFER VESSEL

SUPPORTING LEG

Platform Life Cycle CostThe effort and hence cost required to maintain offshore platforms increases with their age, whilst the production from these platforms decreases with time. Organisations which opt for RHL’s Access Solution will reduce their safety risks and costs which will allow an extension to the economic life of a platform. This adds real value to the Operator and makes a strong case for adopting RHL’s Access Solution. Other life cycle benefits of RHL’s Access Solution are:

• Supports a campaign intervention model which delivers improvements in safety for the offshore workforce whilst also providing improved productivity to further reduce costs.

• Allows optimal planning by removing the constraints introduced by helicopter and jack up availability.

• Part or all of the components of RHL’s Access Solution can be removed and reused on other offshore assets.

The combination of these benefits can deliver a 50% reduction in operational costs and provide a valid justification for reduced abandonment costs.

Benefits of RHL’s Access SolutionRHL’s Access solution allows offshore personnel to be located alongside a platform but remote from the risk posed by the major accident hazards associated with the platform. This is a revolutionary ‘walk to work’ solution with significantly reduced risk when compared with daily helicopter intervention. The crane can be sized to support most types of construction activity and this allows RHL’s Access Solution to be used to support the following activities:

• Routine activities (production routines, fabric maintenance, inspection and maintenance).

• Campaign interventions to deliver platform rationalisation, fabric maintenance, inspection, maintenance, projects and well services programmes.

• Wind farm maintenance programmes via one or more CTV’s• Drilling Campaigns (this is restricted to platforms which have been designed

to support a drill rig and its hook load).• Platform Abandonment

Consequently, in many instances, the solution provides an alternative to helicopter and jack up access but with significantly lower safety risk and cost.

Crew Transfer Vessel OperationCrew Transfer Vessels (CTV’s) are generally light-weight catamarans which are designed to be lifted from the water for maintenance. The weight of these CTV’s is similar to the weight of the crane which can be deployed with RHL’s Access Solution, consequently, the same lifting frame can be used to install the crane and dock the CTV. The detailed design of this lifting frame will incorporate structural redundancy, fail safe mechanisms and an automated docking system to deliver the required safety performance. The following picture shows a typical CTV:

Image credit: Bjoern Wylezich / Shutterstock.com

Operating ModelThe key to delivering improved safety whilst also delivering significant cost benefits is to adopt an operating model which delivers increased productivity and a reduced work load. Previous studies have shown that this can be achieved using a campaign intervention approach supported by a ‘walk to work’ solution.

This change in operating model can be applied to both manned and unmanned platforms in the following ways:

• Manned platforms can have their core manning reduced to a production

crew supported by campaign intervention teams to complete maintenance,

fabric maintenance, inspection and project work in the summer months.

Crew change can be by helicopter access however, the transition to safe

vessel access via RHL’s Access Solution will deliver further safety benefits.

• Unmanned platforms should transition to an operating model which is based

on campaign intervention every 2 years supported by remote operation

technology. This can be achieved by the deployment of RHL’s Access Solution which overcomes the safety concerns and poor productivity

associated with helicopter intervention.

The transition to safe vessel access and reduced intervention requirement can deliver a risk reduction of over 50%, this offers sufficient justification for further investigation. This transition can also deliver major reductions in capital and operating expenditure, this makes a compelling case for further investigation.

Safety BenefitsThe overall risk exposure for an offshore worker is built up from the cumulative effect of the risks posed by several scenarios.

The main scenarios being:

• Loss of containment resulting in a release of hydrocarbons

• Vessel Impact

• Loss of structural Integrity

• Helicopter incidents

For workers flying regularly to work on normally unmanned installations (NUI’s), therisks posed by helicopter flights are the largest, single contributor to the overall risk.This risk contribution is due to the fact that 110 lives have been lost in helicopter incidents on the UKCS from 1981 to 2010 (Ref. “UK Offshore, Commercial Air Transport, Helicopter Safety Record (1981 – 2010)”, published by Oil & Gas UK).

Cumulative expenditure comparing RHL’s Access Solution with Jack ups

Campaign Length / Jack-up days

£35,000,000

£30,000,000

£25,000,000

£20,000,000

£15,000,000

£10,000,000

£5,000,000

£0

400350300250200150100500

Access SolutionJack Up (£50k per day)Jack Up (£65k per day)Jack Up (£80k per day)

The key points being that RHL’s Access Solution provides greater and greater savings as the duration of the campaign increases. These savings are made on campaigns which exceed 35 days in duration. The up-front costs can be discountedfor subsequent campaigns and the savings are then made from day one.

A typical campaign to deliver platform rationalisation would take 6 months, for which the savings would be £6.8, £9.7 & £12.6 million. These savings, in combination with the OPEX reduction, could be the difference between an acceptable and an unacceptable business case.

In addition, the delivery of a new operating model can deliver a reduction in operating costs of over 50%

This level of safety is significantly worse than the levels achieved by commercial air, rail or car travel in the UK. RHL’s Access Solution removes the requirement for helicopter access and can also support the delivery of platform rationalisation. Thecombination of reduced intervention requirements and CTV intervention will result in a significant reduction in the risk to offshore personnel. The resulting risk reductionwill deliver improvements to the QRA which will then feed into the Safety Case.

Cost BenefitsThe following graph shows a cost comparison between RHL’s Access solution and several jack ups, assuming day rates of £50,000, £65,000 & £80,000 per day:

RHL, 20 Mill Lane, Halton, Lancaster, LA2 6NDT 01524 812749 E info@re-hc.co.uk W www.re-hc.co.ukRegistered Office Address - 20 Mill Lane, Halton, Lancaster, LA2 6NDRegistered Office No. - 06812639

SummaryRHL’s Access Solution can be deployed with RHL’s Offshore Platform for the following applications:

• A walk to work solution alongside an existing platform (manned or unmanned).

• A new build, single column oil and gas platform.

• A wind turbine support structure.

• A new build, multi column oil and gas platform.

These applications utilise proven structural solutions coupled with innovative, unique and flexible topsides facilities that deliver low cost access, accommodation and decommissioning capabilities. Initial study work has identified the potential to achieve superior safety and transformational cost performance when compared to the traditional access solutions. In addition, production can be secured during peak price or sensitive market conditions.

The offshore oil & gas industry has had to postpone or cancel many projects due to the impact of low oil and gas prices. The combined impact of the safety and cost benefits identified above will transform the business case for both existing and new projects making sub-economic developments economically viable. In the event that an offshore operator wishes to revisit the economic viability of a particular development RHL are able to support both the study and development phases with their team of experienced oil and gas professionals.

For more information on RHL’s Access Solution please call or e-mail RHL

01524 812749 info@re-hc.co.uk