October 22
October 22, 2007
Richard Weaver
October 24, 2007
Max Welders Inc. recently shipped out its nearly $20 million offshore oilrig package project to Trinidad and Tabogo.
Max Welders invested nearly five months or 65,000 man-hours into the project of modifying the rig, which was originally built in 1976.
Retrofitting the rig was one of the largest projects ever for Max Welders and the rig’s owner, Tulsa-based Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
“It’s going to be a lucrative project,” said Helmerich & Payne Project Manager and engineer Scott Strack. “It’s going to have one of the highest day rates H&P has ever had.”
Some 30 Helmerich & Payne employees and 60 Max Welders employees tackled the project.
Nearly 40 welders were used to piece together the 80 or so steel packages, the building blocks for the rig, which can weigh anywhere from 20,000 to 10,000 pounds a piece.
The welders assaulted the project with two different techniques. They employed Flux-core welding, which is a type of gas-metal arch welding and stick welding.
The two major upgrades were a seismic upgrade and the addition of a new mud tank.
The rig, which works offshore, can now withstand an earthquake of 6.5 to 7.0 magnitude. It was the first such seismic upgrade ever made by Max Welders.
And perhaps true to south Louisiana, the only real delays the project faced came from bad weather.
The rig will be put to use on three different jobs.
The rig’s first job will be working for British Gas and Chevron Texaco. Its second will be working for just British Gas.
The third is unknown at this time.
Max Welders hosted a luncheon on Sept. 28 for 175 people from both companies involved in the upgrade process to celebrate the rig’s launch.
Terrebonne Parish’s Max Welders Inc. recently completed work on oil rigs bound for Trinidad and Tabogo. * Photo courtesy of MAX WELDERS INC.
