Platform Support Shorebase Facility Heliport Facility Warehouse Facility Transshipment Terminal ROV

Platform Support
When Hibernia began construction in 1991, Newfoundland was a 'greenfield' site in petroleum industry terms, with very little supporting infrastructure in place. Hibernia has changed all that, through the development of:

• shorebase facilities
  
• warehousing complex
  
• heliport
  
• transshipment terminal
  
• training simulator
  

Much of this infrastructure can be utilized by future oil developments and will form the foundation for an east coast offshore oil and gas industry. By utilizing the "shared services" approach to industry support, there is the potential for considerable cost savings for all petroleum industry participants - Hibernia included. In fact, the Terra Nova development is already utilizing the heliport, warehouse and shorebase facilities developed for Hibernia, resulting in significant cost reductions for all parties.

Shorebase Facility The Hibernia Shorebase, located at St. John's Harbour on the east end of Water Street, provides shorebase support facilities to the Hibernia platform. The shorebase is owned by A. Harvey and Company. Under the contract, A. Harvey and Company provides docking facilities for the support vessels, lay-down and marshaling areas on the waterfront, warehousing that is required at the site, and all personnel needed for a smooth and efficient operation.

The Hibernia Shorebase is owned and operated by A. Harvey and Company. It is located in St. John's Harbour.

The shorebase also provides materials handling equipment, such as crane and forklift services, local transportation of materials to the site, and containers to transport goods to and from the platform.


Practically all materials that flow between shore and the platform pass through the shorebase, with the exception of whatever flies back and forth by helicopter. There is considerable interaction between the shorebase and the warehouse and off-site storage complex in Mount Pearl.


The heliport is home base for all helicopter traffic to and from the Hibernia platform. The heliport houses three Super Puma helicopters (with room for two more), Cougar's corporate offices, a training area, a passenger movement area, a Hibernia satellite office, a safety suit issuance and holding area, and a privately-owned travel agency office. Cougar has also invested in an alternate landing site in Long Pond, Conception Bay, in case of bad weather in St. John's.


The heliport initially catered to Hibernia, but an overcapacity was built into the facility to serve the entire east coast offshore oil industry. For example, the facility is now servicing Terra Nova's drilling operations offshore. As other oil fields come into development, they too can utilize the heliport and other infrastructure built for Hibernia, resulting in reduced costs through shared services.

Warehouse Facility The Asco Warehouse Complex, located at 10 Corisande Drive in Mount Pearl, is the largest industrial warehouse complex in the region. A modern, purpose-built offshore oil industry facility, the warehouse is the first point of receipt for all equipment and material to be used on the operations end of the Hibernia platform.

The Warehouse Complex in Mount Pearl is the first point of receipt for all equipment and material to be used on the operations end of the HIbernia platform.

The Asco warehouse has a total of 32,000 square feet of floor space. There is an additional 4,000 square feet of office area.


Before construction of the warehouse began, a thorough needs analysis process determined the size and layout of the facility. Like the other Hibernia support facilities, such as the shorebase and the heliport, the warehouse was built with the potential to expand, if required, to offer space to other operators.


The facility is located directly across the street from another warehouse facility that was also purpose-built by Schlumberger Oilfield Services. Economies were created by locating the facilities near each other. For example, both facilities share certain pieces of equipment, as well as security, snow clearing, janitorial, fueling depot and other services.


The warehouse is networked into Hibernia's Systems Applications and Products (SAP) data processing system, an integrated business software system that electronically connects all members of the Hibernia family.


Transshipment Terminal
Crude oil movement is handled by the owner companies. The owners have the option of sending crude oil directly to market, or using the transshipment terminal located at Whiffen Head, NF.


Transshipment is a two-stage transportation process for moving crude oil to market. Crude oil is transferred from storage in the Hibernia production platform by purpose-built shuttle tankers. These tankers carry the oil to a transshipment terminal where it is stored in tanks until it is transferred to a conventional (second leg) tanker and shipped to market.


The transshipment terminal is located in Whiffen Head, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. The transshipment terminal reduces the number of shuttle tankers required to support Hibernia operations, increases marketing opportunities beyond the range of three shuttle tankers, and allows cargo sizes to be tailored to meet individual customer needs.


The Whiffen Head site was chosen because it has:

• a minimum water depth of 20 metres
  
• little or no ice in winter
  
• a wide straight approach to the ship berth
  
• a berth area reasonably sheltered from prevailing weather conditions
  
• a minimum tanker turning area of two tanker lengths
  
• a shoreline area suitable for development
  

Other criteria included wind and wave conditions, existing shipping corridors, on-land infrastructure and environmental sensitivities.


The transshipment terminal initially had three crude oil tanks, support buildings, diesel tanks and a causeway/trestle to the nearshore tanker berth. From January 1999 to October 2000, Newfoundland Transhipment Limited had a significant growth spurt. A $65 million dollar expansion to the facility included a second near-shore tanker berth and two additional 500,000 barrel storage tanks along with the supporting infrastructure. The berths can accommodate crude oil tankers ranging from up to 35,000 dead weight tonnes to 159,900 dead weight tonnes.


A sixth tank was added in 2002. Total maximum storage capacity is 3 million barrels.

While in Placentia Bay, loaded crude oil tankers are escorted by a custom designed 5,600 horsepower NTL tug that functions as a tanker as well as a firefighting and docking tug. The purpose-built NTL tugs are the Placentia Pride and the Placentia Hope.


The ownership of the transshipment terminal includes: ExxonMobil Canada Ltd., Chevron Canada Resources Limited, Petro-Canada, IMTT-NTL Ltd., Husky Oil Operations Ltd., Murphy Atlantic Offshore Oil Company Limited and StatoilHydro Canada Ltd.

The simulator has been used to train control room operators, as well as offshore operations staff, engineering and maintenance personnel, since July of 1996. Individuals are trained in everyday control room procedures, and also receive intensive training in emergency response. Simulated training helps ensure that personnel react properly to situations, especially stressful ones such as inclement weather conditions, process upsets or an emergency situation.


The instructors are guided by documented training procedures to ensure that everyone receives a consistent level of experience, but are able to spring sudden changes in weather and other surprise situations on the trainees, to better prepare them for the real thing.


The Hibernia training simulator is a one-of-a-kind facility. In addition to preparing qualified personnel for work on the Hibernia field, it also comprises part of the infrastructure that is already servicing other developments offshore Newfoundland.

ROV During 1998, Hibernia acquired a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) on a long-term lease from a company in the United Kingdom. The ROV is a small, unmanned submarine that is operated by remote control. It can perform inspections using a camera, and can carry out mechanical work using robotic arms. Hibernia has already used the ROV in the installation of critical Offshore Loading System (OLS) equipment, and in the subsea inspection of the GBS and OLS, which are submerged under the water. Although the ROV will continue to be used for such inspections in the future, it will also sit idle for extended periods of time. For this reason, the vehicle is being made available to other offshore operators, and has already been utilized by Amoco and the Terra Nova Project. Again, this results in considerable cost savings for all parties.

Performing underwater inspections of the GBS and the OLS is but one of the capabilities of Hibernia's ROV.