Aussie technology proven in Gulf of Mexico offshore trial

Australian company Matrix Composites & Engineering Ltd (Matrix) has successfully completed analysis of its 12-month field deployment of Longitudinal Grooved Suppression (LGS) in the Gulf of Mexico with a leading oil and gas operator.

LGS, a patent-protected technology developed by Melbourne-based AMOG Technologies Pty Ltd, reduces drag and vortex induced vibration (VIV) on tubular structures exposed to strong ocean currents, such as risers on floating drill rigs and pipelines.

Analysis of data from the Gulf of Mexico trial has shown that the Matrix LGS system allowed uninterrupted drilling during periods where traditional buoyancy would have rendered the drill rig inoperable, increasing production and efficiency while reducing downtime and equipment fatigue.

In assessing data from the drill rig fitted with LGS against comparable data using conventional buoyancy, annual operability improvement was calculated at 12 days. As such, it is estimated that LGS would deliver annual savings of US$12.7 million, based on current average daily drilling rates. With the deployed LGS section string costing $1.4 million, it would take just over one day of recovered operability to pay back the purchase cost.

Matrix Chief Executive Officer Aaron Begley said the results would better enable Matrix to market the technology at brownfield and greenfield offshore applications.

“I am delighted to see the field results in the Gulf of Mexico confirm that LGS works as expected in full-scale real-world operations. This validates the large-scale testing done in 2016 at Canada’s National Resource Council in St. John’s, Newfoundland,” he said. “The results show that operators in strong current conditions can use LGS to continue drilling safely and effectively when they would ordinarily need to stop, increasing productivity and slashing costs.

“We can now see that the cost savings are in the millions of dollars and the payback period for an LGS system is very short. We are very excited to be at the forefront of VIV reduction technology and will use these results to enhance our marketing to drilling customers at deepwater brownfield and greenfield offshore operations, building on the success we’ve also had in using the LGS technology to retrofit pipelines.”

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