Subsea well with retrievable piping deck

• US 4,438,817 A
• Filed: 09/29/1982
• Issued: 03/27/1984
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1982
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kvaerner National, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Armco Inc. (Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Holding Corp.)
• Inventors: Valka, William A., Pokladnik, Roger L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Leppink, James A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bui, Thuy M.
• Application Number:
  US06/426,695
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 166/341, 166/339, 166/344-347, 166/351, 166/357, 166/362, 166/366, 166/368
• US Class Current: 166/341
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 41/08 Underwater guide bases, e.g. drilling templates; Levelling thereof
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/013 Connecting a production flow line to an underwater well head
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/0175 Hydraulic schemes for production manifolds

Abstract

An apparatus and method for drilling and completing a subsea well located at the seabed using a retrievable piping deck. The apparatus includes a template supported on the seabed, the retrievable piping deck supported on the template, a plurality of wellheads supported on the template and a plurality of Christmas trees supported on the wellheads. The piping deck has preinstalled flow lines and hydraulic lines to conduct well fluid from the Christmas trees to the surface and to conduct hydraulic control fluid from the surface to the trees. In addition to the Christmas trees, a well fluid manifold and a gaseous-liquid component separator can be supported on the template. The fluid connections between the Christmas trees and the hydraulic and flow lines and between the manifold and separator and the hydraulic and flow lines are accomplished by vertically oriented stab-in connectors. After installation of the template and drilling of the wells, the piping deck is lowered independently to the template and coupled thereto and then the Christmas trees and manifold-separator are lowered to the template and into fluid communication with the piping deck hydraulic and flow lines.

Claims

1. A subsea well, the combination comprising:

a template installed on the seabed and having a plurality of guide sleeves oriented over a plurality of wells formed in the seabed;

a plurality of wellheads, each installed in one of said guide sleeves;

a retrievable piping deck having a plurality of flow lines coupled thereto and located on the top of said template;

a plurality of Christmas trees, each installed on one of said wellheads;

means, including vertically oriented connectors, for coupling each of said Christmas trees to one of said flow lines;

a fluid manifold installed on said template;

means, including vertically oriented connectors, for coupling each of said flow lines to said manifold; and

a main flow line coupled to said manifold and extending from said template to the surface of the sea.

2. A subsea well according to claim 1, wherein said retrievable piping deck further comprises

a plurality of locating rings rigidly coupled thereto, each receiving one of said wellheads therein.

3. A subsea well according to claim 2, wherein

each of said locating rings is coupled to one of said flow lines and carries one of said vertically oriented connectors for coupling said Christmas trees to said flow lines.

4. A subsea well according to claim 1, and further comprising

a separator coupled to said template and in fluid-flow communication with said manifold and said main flow line for separating the gaseous and liquid components received from the wells.

5. A subsea well according to claim 1, and further comprising

a plurality of hydraulic lines carried by said piping deck,

means, including vertically oriented connectors, for coupling each of said Christmas trees to one of said hydraulic lines, and

means for supplying said hydraulic lines with fluid under pressure from the surface of the sea.

6. A subsea well according to claim 1, wherein

each of said flow lines coupled to said piping deck have upwardly directed ends.

7. A subsea well according to claim 1, wherein

said main flow line is coupled to said manifold by a downwardly facing connector on said manifold and an upwardly facing connector carried by said template.

8. A method of drilling and completing a subsea well, comprising the steps of

lowering a template to the seabed,

drilling a plurality of wells in the seabed through the template,

lowering a plurality of wellheads to the template and installing the wellheads over the wells,

lowering a retrievable piping deck onto the template, the piping deck carrying flow lines with upwardly facing connectors thereon,

lowering a plurality of Christmas trees to the template, each having a flow line with a downwardly facing connector thereon,

coupling the piping deck flow lines and Christmas tree flow lines via their connectors by downward movement of the Christmas trees onto the wellheads, and

conducting well fluid from the wells, through the wellheads, through the Christmas trees, and through the connected Christmas tree and piping deck flow lines to the surface of the sea.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the conducting step is preceded by the steps of

lowering a manifold to the template, the manifold having a plurality of downwardly facing connectors thereon, and

coupling the manifold downwardly facing connectors to the upwardly facing connectors on the piping deck flow lines by downward movement of the manifold,

the conducting step including conducting well fluid from the piping deck flow lines, through the manifold and to the surface of the sea.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein

the template carries an upwardly facing connector, and

the conducting step includes coupling a manifold downwardly facing connector to the upwardly facing connector on the template.

11. A method according to claim 8, wherein

the piping deck carries hydraulic lines with upwardly facing connectors thereon,

the Christmas trees carry hydraulic lines with downwardly facing connectors thereon,

the step of coupling the piping deck flow lines and Christmas tree flow lines includes coupling the piping deck hydraulic lines and Christmas tree hydraulic lines via their connectors by downward movement of the Christmas trees onto the wellheads, and

the conducting step includes conducting hydraulic fluid under pressure from the surface of the sea to the hydraulic lines on the piping deck.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein

the template carries a hydraulic line with an upwardly facing connector,

the conducting hydraulic fluid step includes

lowering a manifold to the template, the manifold having a pair of hydraulic lines with a pair of downwardly facing connectors, and

coupling the pair of manifold hydraulic line downwardly facing connectors to the upwardly facing connector on the template hydraulic line and one of the upwardly facing connectors on one of the piping deck hydraulic lines via downward movement of the manifold.