• Oil and gas

Experts step in for Bigfoot installation

When a RMSpumptools' bypass system and wellhead penetrators were installed as part of Chevron’s ‘Big Foot’  project in the Gulf of Mexico in 2020, the customer was keen for trained members of the RMSpumptools' team to be present on the platform during rig operations. 

So senior engineers, Jonny Murty and Kenny Hall were sent out to the USA and spent a total of five months on and off the platform, overseeing all aspects of the installation.  

‘As with everywhere else in the world just now, Covid shaped my time in Louisiana,’ Jonny says. ‘Isolation was the overriding theme, whether I was on my own in a hotel or stuck on a platform in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. I had so many Covid tests during that trip that I got to know the medical staff by name. Every time I travelled offshore, I had to take a Covid test and then isolate in a Chevron hotel for a night before taking a two-hour helicopter ride to the platform. The first time I flew out, I was the only person on a 12-man chopper. 

‘Hurricane evacuations and Covid outbreaks aside, the installation itself went smoothly. It’s great to have been involved in a project of this scale but after 94 days away I was really pleased to get home.’ 

Kenny adds, ‘Hurricanes played havoc with the schedules which caused some delays with the installation but it gave us a real sense of achievement to see the completion being landed after so long. We had some minor issues, as with all installations, but working closely with the Baker and Chevron crews we overcame these obstacles to ensure our products performed safely and efficiently. It really was a great team effort and I’m looking forward to the next installation in this ground-breaking project.'

Closer to home, the RMSpumptools' wellhead penetrator has been installed in the grounds of the world renowned Reichstag parliament building in Berlin. This comes as part of a rejuvenation project for the Reichstag to implement a renewable source of energy to heat the building. Only the quality and performance of an RMSpumptools' penetrator would allow the safe production of the geothermal pocket identified beneath the listed building. 

‘The geothermal market is gaining momentum and it is now seen as a key element in the energy mix,’ says marketing manager, Neil Thompson. ‘ Our range of electrical penetrators is ideally suited to the temperatures experienced in geothermal applications – in fact, the Reichstag project is just one of several of this kind that we are involved with.’