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2001 Shell Brutus

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The Ursa unit is located approximately 130 miles south-east of New Orleans. It encompasses Mississippi Canyon blocks 808, 809, 810, 852, 853 and 854. The water depth averages approximately 4,000 ft.
Field production began on 8 March 1999, and by July 2008 the site, and the neighbouring Princess field, had produced nearly 400 million barrels of oil.
The TLP has been designed to simultaneously withstand hurricane force waves and winds. The structure design specified a total displacement of approximately 97,500 t.
The TLP is held on-station by 16 tendons, four per corner. These have a diameter of 32 inch and a wall thickness of 1.5 inch.
Each tendon is approximately 3,800 ft-long and the total weight for the 16 tendons is approximately 16,000 t.
Production from Ursa has been falling from a peak in 2000 of 150,000 barrels per day of condensate, so in July 2008 Shell started injecting water into the wells. This ‘Waterflood’, which is planned to continue for the next 30 years, has a listed volume enhancement capacity of 30,000 boe per day and is expected to extend the life of the field by 10 years.
Waterflood is a method of secondary recovery in which water is injected into the reservoir formation to displace additional oil. The water from injection wells re-pressurises the formation and physically sweeps the displaced oil into adjacent production wells.