Saudi Arabian Texaco Uses Innovative Hose Replacement
Procedure to Boost Safety, Environmental Protection & Cut Costs
Posted: March 2005
Saudi Arabian Texaco’s (SAT) Marine Division recently employed an innovative procedure for flushing out and replacing hose lengths for the floating hose strings for the Company’s single point mooring (SPM) buoy at its Mina Saud oil export facility in the Partitioned Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The new procedure brought special safety and environmental benefits, while considerably cutting costs and time.
In 2004, SAT’s Marine Division faced several challenges in carrying out its first-ever planned maintenance for the floating hose strings. They included frequent tanker traffic in the area, changing sea conditions, limited capacity for handling the water used to flush out the floating hoses prior to maintenance and replacement, and the need to ensure sufficient capacity for handling recovered water in the event of an oil spill.
Marine’s elegant solution was closed circuit cycling of the flushed water. Clean water sourced from an oil tanker was flushed down one of the two floating hose strings through the SPM, then back up the second hose string to the tanker’s slop tanks.
Once the operation was completed, the crew was able to change over three hose lengths to new ones in each of the two floating hose strings, then rotate the entire hose strings. The flushed water was stored in the tanker before being treated at an approved disposal facility at a subsequent port of call.
The operation was carefully timed to when ship traffic was at a minimum and during the summer, when seas are generally calm, to minimize risks and work interruptions.
“We are very proud to have accomplished this task, with zero injuries, zero emissions or spills, and no interruptions to normal operations and with an estimated savings of US$500,000 compared to what outside contractors would have charged,” says Omer Al-Wasem, Manager, SAT Oil Export Department.
“Marine’s achievement demonstrates the proven value of ChevronTexaco’s Operational Excellence Management System,” notes Chuck Coarsey, SAT’s Operational Excellence Champion. “We had strong leadership and accountability from management in setting out the vision and world-class objectives for this operation. Then personnel followed through in implementing the key steps to fully meet all requirements.”
The two floating hose strings rotated and partially replaced with new hoses convey oil from the SPM system buoy, located 4 miles offshore, to oil tankers moored to it. The SPM is supplied by a pipeline that runs from SAT’s onshore crude loading pipeline and pump station. The Company’s export facility has the capability to load tankers with crude at rates of up to 53,000 barrels per hour. In 2004, 101 ships loaded crude oil at the facility.
ChevronTexaco’s Operational Excellence is the systematic management of safety, health, environmental protection, and operational reliability and efficiency to achieve world class performance
Posted by Editor Offshore Arabia Magazine
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