Shwe Natural Gas Project - Offshore Technology

The Shwe natural gas project comprises the Shwe, Shwe Phyu and Mya offshore gas fields located in Blocks A-1 and A-3 of the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar. The project is backed by Myanmar, China and India. It is being developed by a consortium of six companies led by POSCO subsidiary Daewoo International, which is also the operator of the project.

Key players involved in the project are Daewoo International, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh, Gas Authority of India (GAIL), Korean Gas Corporation (KOGAS), and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

First gas from the Shwe project was achieved in July 2013 from the Mya field and commercial production started in August. The project is expected to be fully operational by mid 2014 and will produce around 500 million cubic feet of gas a day. The gas will be sold to China National United Oil Corporation (CNUOC) for 25 to 30 years.

Shwe natural gas project controversies and concerns:

The Shwe gas project has faced much criticism, as its environmental impact assessment (EIA) was not released prior to the start of construction. It was further criticised for not allocating sufficient gas for domestic use in Myanmar.

Critics of the project also allege that the project's pipelines pass through ecologically sensitive and residential areas including rainforests, parks, rivers, marines and sanctuaries.

Human rights activists opposed the Burmese military's acquisition of land in the Gown Chewin, Thit Pate Taung, and Saba Shar areas to make way for the project pipelines without providing compensation for the locals.

Fishing has also been banned in the area by the Burmese Navy, affecting the livelihood of the local fishermen.

Shwe gas project reserves and development details:

The combined natural gas reserves of the three gas fields are estimated at 4.53 trillion cubic feet. The Shwe gas field, discovered in 2004, has the largest gas reserves among the three fields.

The project involved drilling four subsea production wells and tying them back to an integrated drilling and processing platform. The infrastructure includes an offshore platform, submarine pipelines, an onshore gas terminal, and a supply base jetty facility at Kyauk Phyu, Myanmar.

The 40,000t offshore platform, located at a water depth of 110m, processes and transports gas to the onshore facilities. It features drilling facilities and gas restoring systems. The platform jacket and the topside with distributed systems foundation (DSF) weigh 22,000t and 30,000t respectively. They were assembled in November 2012.

Processing of gas from the Myanmar natural gas field:

The produced gas is transported from the Shwe platform to Ramree Island through a 32in-diameter and 110km-long subsea pipeline. It is further exported through the 2,800km Myanmar-China gas pipeline network.

"The project is expected to be fully operational by mid 2014 and will produce around 500 million cubic feet of gas a day."

Contractors involved:

MOGE is the project-in-charge and manages the planning and execution of the project.
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) was awarded with a $1.5bn engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract to construct the underwater jacket and the topside of the platform in February 2010. It also included the construction of other support facilities. Dockwise Engineering Services was subcontracted by HHI for the platform installation.

JDR Cable Systems provided a production control umbilical for the project. The 13,650m-long umbilical was manufactured at JDR's Sattahip, Thailand facility.

Trelleborg provided floatover mating technology for the Shwe platform as part of a contract signed in December 2013. The company also provided leg mating units (LMU), deck support units (DSU), load transfer units (LTU) and floatover fender systems for the project.

KCA Deutag will provide operation and maintenance drilling services for the platform under a two year contract awarded in June 2013.

Source: Shwe Natural Gas Project - Offshore Technology