ARC Energy’s Hovea Production Facility is located near Dongara, approximately 380 km north of Perth, Western Australia.

ICON’s role then expanded to include:

• Project management including bid and award of procurement and construction packages.

• Preparation of operating procedures and documentation for regulatory authorities.

• Assistance with construction supervision.

• Commissioning of the facilities.

Hovea under construction

The Hovea Production Facility started operation with 3 wellheads, a single separator, oil storage tanks and loadout facilities. Crude oil produced through the facility is trucked south to BP Refinery at Kwinana.

The initial development was undertaken as an early production test as the field performance could not be predicted. Thus the water production and the field life were both determined during the development phase.

As the development was funded from cash flow rather than debt, a staged development focussing on low initial expenditure was important. Second hand equipment has been used where appropriate.

Since starting in December 2002, ICON have enabled expansion of the facility to include a water injection system, further separation (2 additional separators), more wells (local and remote) and artificial lift (gas lift). ICON has also introduced the concept of dual fuel drivers for water pumps and generators to allow standard diesels to run on gas/diesel or straight diesel. The cost of this conversion paid for itself within 3 months.

The Hovea storage tanks

As well as the challenges relating to the undefined performance of the field, the crude has a high pour point thus requiring it to be kept warm.

ICON has been involved in the detail design, construction management and commissioning of all the facilities. Each of these expansion projects has been fast-tracked with tight budget constraints.

The Main Control Centre (MCC) is designed for continuous operations, and is a ‘stand alone’ centre with full control and monitoring of all facility parameters.

ICON Engineering has worked closely with ARC Energy on a risk reward basis to ensure successful project delivery in all cases.

Subsequent to development of the facility, ICON has continued to support Arc Energy during the operation of the field in a “brownfield” environment. ICON assisted Arc in developing operating procedures, change management and project screening procedures.

Drawings and key documents are made available on the ICON Extranet system allowing managed access to the latest information over the internet.

ICON personnel have been inducted and trained by Arc and are familiar with their site and with their work permit system.