Dutch heavy lifting specialist Mammoet has returned to Turkmenistan to load out the Garagol Deniz Drilling Platform A’s 4,000 ton topside. The company previously supported the engineering and construction company – ILK Insaat, with the load-out of the jacket for the platform at the construction site near Turkmenbashi. 

The oil and gas industry is a key contributor to Turkmenistan’s economy, making up around 80 percent of its exports. The Garagol Deniz West field is located around 75 kilometres offshore of Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea. The further exploration of this area will be crucial as it has the potential to significantly increase energy output and help further the success of the country’s oil and gas industry.

The topside had been in situ for some time, so there were concerns about the high level of friction that could possibly occur during breakout. Mammoet designed a solution using high capacity hydraulic breakout jacks in combination with strand jacks that minimised the risks and ensured the manoeuvres could be performed as smoothly as possible. Although the friction was still high, the method used meant Mammoet was able to precisely realign the structure throughout the operation. First, the topside was jacked-up and weighed using load cells, coming in at nearly 4,000 tons.

The load-out operation was split into three phases: the initial breakout of the platform, the movement via skid tracks onshore, and the actual load-out from land to barge.

Mammoet worked with the client to grease the skid tracks, before pushing the topside from its initial position using breakout jacks. Strand jacks were then used to skid the topside along the skid tracks and it was loaded-out onto the barge, ready to be installed offshore in the Garagol Deniz West field.

Overall, during the operations Mammoet utilised 24 x 600 ton load cells, two high capacity hydraulic breakout jacks and four 600 ton strand jacks.

The GDDP-A is due to come into operation during the second half of 2021. It is expected to produce a peak of 10,000 barrels of oil and 35 million cubic feet of gas per day and will make a significant contribution to Turkmenistan’s oil and gas operations in the Garagol-Deniz West field.