first OCS platform | Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

Posts Tagged ‘first OCS platform’

Located in Ship Shoal Block 32
Constructed by Brown & Root for Kerr-McGee.
Supported by sixteen 24-inch pilings, 104 feet of penetration
2,700 square foot wooden deck (I recall reading that the deck had previously been used as a railroad bridge, but I can’t find the source.)
Withstood Category 5 hurricane a week after drilling began in 1947. (It must have withstood many more because BOEM’s platform file indicates that the platform remained in place until 1988. Other reports indicate that the platform produced continuously for 37 years.)
The platform was supported by an attendant barge that provided living quarters and equipment and materials needed for the drilling operations. This was reportedly the first drilling tender.
BSEE’s borehole file records indicate that 31 wells were drilled on this block beginning in September 1947.
BOEM’s production file shows initial production rates of 7000 to 10,600 bbls of oil per month. The accuracy of these old data is uncertain.
This was reportedly the first time drilling crews worked 12-hour tours for seven days and then rotated to shore for seven days off.