Xodus Group, an oil and gas services firm, has been awarded its second contract this year from Zakum Development Company (Zadco) to carry out vibration analysis on its North Satellite Platform and South Satellite Platform, offshore Abu Dhabi.

Zadco’s Upper Zakum operations areas have experienced piping and deck level structural vibration during different loading modes of operations. The work, totalling over $400,000, will see Xodus’ vibration team provide qualitative and quantitative assessments, conduct a vibration survey, Operating Deflection Shape (ODS) analysis, finite element modelling to verify corrective actions and apply specialist techniques to reduce vibration.

The Zakum field is the second largest field in the Gulf and the fourth largest field in the world. Zadco aims to increase the production rate from Upper Zakum from 550,000 to 750,000 barrels of oil per day, sustainable for 25 years.

Mohamed Abdulrahman Al Marzouqi, Zadco’s Operation Support vice president for Maintenance said: “The need to manage long term performance and issues has led Zadco to seek out a more economical future development concept. Reducing vibration has been a major challenge for us as we have increased production on these ageing assets in recent months.”

Slahadin Ali Ashair, Zadco’s Rotating Machinery manager added: “Xodus was chosen to undertake this project as the team is considered the most knowledgeable and economical in this specialised field. We have been in constant dialogue and had excellent schedule control from the Xodus team. The work is expected to be completed ahead of time, saving valuable project time and overall costs.”

Earlier this year, Xodus was awarded a $600,000 contract for the vibration assessment and analysis on the oil train piping and structures for Zadco at Zirku Island. The work pulled in services from Xodus’ process, piping, instrumentation and structural teams and included a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) scope of work.

Steve Hamilton, Xodus Group’s managing director for Middle East and Asia said: “The Middle East faces a substantial challenge to keep ageing offshore oil and gas structures operating safely beyond original design life.

“This is another project that has been won because of excellent feedback from previous work. Our integrated team has gained a reputation for its expertise and we are pleased to be working again with Zadco, helping them solve their vibration challenges as they look to develop this field for the future.” – TradeArabia News Service