Shell Oil Comapny

Roy Mitchell Guinn

Denby Grey Morrison

John H Pelletier

Christian A Cermelli

Hugo A Corvalan San Martin

The invention describes a cost-effective alternative for deploying and installing subsea equipment using a workboat or other vessel of opportunity. The equipment is not supported directly by the vessel, but is instead supported by one or more buoys below the wave zone. The buoys are controlled by a combination of chain, wire rope, and synthetic line linking it to the workboat. As such, the buoy system described herein decouples vessel motion from the payload by supporting the payload from the buoys below the wave zone. Because the buoys are below the wave action and its associated turbulence, there is little energy and hence little tendency for motion. The result is a stable, inexpensive, maneuverable system capable of servicing large subsea payloads in a wide range of water depths.

Apparatuses and methods of deploying and installing subsea equipment

The invention is a device for eliminating the &ldquo;tripping&rdquo; of the BOP stack to the surface when switching between drilling and completion modes of operation on a drilling rig. This device is a new apparatus for attaching a BOP guide funnel, which will allow the funnel to be released and/or reattached while the BOP remains subsea on or near the seafloor. The new BOP guide funnel assembly consists of three basic components: a guide funnel, a connector shroud and a parking pile adapter. The guide funnel has a downwardly opening funnel on bottom (used to capture a wellhead) and an upwardly opening smaller funnel on top (used to guide the shroud back into the guide funnel during re-installation of the guide funnel). The connector shroud is permanently attached to the bottom of the BOP stack, surrounding the BOP wellhead connector and holds the guide funnel in place. The connector shroud also acts as a guide for entering other subsea equipment designed in a funnel-up configuration when the guide funnel is not present. The connector shroud includes a latching mechanism for releasing and/or reattaching the guide funnel. The latching mechanism may be controlled either by the BOP control system or by intervention from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The parking pile adapter is designed to &ldquo;store&rdquo; the funnel at the seafloor when it has been released from the BOP stack.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Roy Mitchell Guinn