Byron Set to Install Platform at Gulf of Mexico Block

Offshore platform installation works are set to begin at Byron Energy's U.S. Gulf of Mexico operator South Marsh Island 58 G offshore block.

Byron said Tuesday that a material barge would arrive at a construction yard near New Iberia, LA to begin load out of the SM58 G platform jacket pilings. 

Once the pilings are loaded and secured, the barge will be moved to the primary construction yard in Abbeville, LA and the jacket will be loaded out. A second barge will carry the deck to the SM58 block where the Triton Offshore Hedron derrick barge will meet the material barges. 

On location, where water depth is around 37 meters, the jacket will be set in place over the existing SM58 G1 well, pinned to the seafloor, and then the deck will be lifted into place on top of the jacket and welded down. 

With no weather delays, the entire operation is expected to take about 20 days from initial piling loadout to final demobilization of the derrick barge Byrons said Tuesday.

Credit: Byron Energy

The current schedule calls for pipeline operations to begin about July 1, 2020. Completion operations utilizing the Enterprise Offshore Drilling ("EOD") 264 jack-up drilling rig are anticipated to begin mid to late July 2020. 

Byron's CEO, Maynard Smith, commented: "This load out and installation marks the beginning of the second phase of our construction program at SM58. Even with all of the recent issues in the oil industry, our team in Lafayette, Louisiana has been able to deliver a top quality nine slot production platform capable of handling 8,000 barrels of oil per day and 80 million cubic feet of gas per day on time and on budget. The construction process has progressed very smoothly, and we are excited that the time to set the G Platform has arrived. Our primary goal right now is to bring the G1 well into production."

In a presentation in May, Bayron said that initial gross daily production flow rates fro the G1 well are expected to be around 20mmcfgpd and 1000 bopd. It said that the first production would begin in September.