Hybrid Offshore Drilling & Production Concepts For the East Coast of Canada And Heavy Sea Ice Environments

The Rigid Artic Tension Leg Platform (RATLP) and the Stepped Steel Gravity Platform (SSGP) are recent results of efforts to develop solutions and concepts to meet the challenges of exploration and production in ice infested waters of the east coast of Canada. The RATLP concept offers drilling solutions in sea ice environments from water depths of 80 to 400 m by combining the tensioning principles of a conventional TLP with the properties of a buoy. The SSGP concept offers drilling and production solutions in water depths up to approximately 150 m and represents a departure from traditional cylindrical concrete gravity-based production platforms with respect to shape, material and method of construction.