New Mumbai High North Process Complex commissioned Recently

The Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dr. M Veerappa Moily informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that the Mumbai High North (MHN) process complex was commissioned in December 2012 in Mumbai High North field. The erstwhile Bombay High North (BHN) platform of Mumbai High was completely destroyed in the fire after unfortunate accident in July 2005. The salient features of new MHN process complex are as under:

• Cost of Platform construction is Rs. 6060 Crore

• Has all process facilities typically used at offshore including separation, compression, dehydration, sweetening etc.

• The platform has processing capacity of 48,000 Barrels of Oil per day (BOPD) and gas compression capacity of 6.9 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter per day (MMSCMD).

• 20 well platforms have been connected/diverted to this complex, which were earlier flowing to other complexes.

• Has gas sweetening unit having capacity of 1.7 MMSCMD, which is a value addition.

He also said that for the safety of offshore installations the ‘Petroleum and Natural Gas (safety in Offshore Operations) Rules, 2008 are in force since June, 2008. These Rules have been notified by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India and primarily pertains to safety aspects in offshore petroleum operations. Oil Industry Safety Directorate has been designated as the Competent Authority to oversee implementation of these Rules in offshore operations. The following measures have also been taken:

i. Marine operation manual providing guidance on the safe management of marine activities has been formulated. The role and responsibilities at each level with respect to marine operations are defined with a particular emphasis on 500 metre Safety Zone for installations

ii. The movement within safety zone is controlled by Oil Installation Manager (OIM). No vessel is allowed to enter safety zone during pre-defined adverse weather conditions.

iii. Riser Guards are provided for taking Energy impact load of Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) as per international practice. For new projects, Risers are installed within the Jackets for extra precaution.

iv. ONGC has installed sub-sea isolation values in the high risk risers of MUT (Mumbai Uran Trunk) pipeline.

v. Vessel Air Traffic Monitoring System (VATMS) for monitoring movement of vessel.

VI Up gradation of OSV’s for Search and Rescue (SAR) with fast rescue boats.

vii. Logistic officer appointed on each production installation.

Viii. Regional Contingency Plan (RCP) is in Place.

ix. Onshore based offshore control system has been implemented to have redundancy in control system.

x. All key personnel at installations are imparted Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) training as per international standards.

RCJ/RKS
(Release ID :93987)