Artificial island concept – specifics of construction and usage in the Caspian Sea

Abstract

The Northern Caspian Sea is considered to be a very perspective region for oil and gas production growth. However, the challenges encountered in the Northern Caspian Sea are not usually met in such combination in another regions, so this imposes special requirements for the further development of hydrocarbon fields in the region. This thesis is focused on the field development in the Kazakh sector of the Northern Caspian Sea and it is addressed to a discussion of artificial island concept that might be applied for these conditions. Possible options for production of hydrocarbons, oil and gas transportation and processing are discussed on basis of the analysis of existing solutions for similar conditions. Attention is also given to the ice load mitigation measures and other aspects that should be taken into consideration during the development of fields in the Northern Caspian Sea. In near shore oilfield development of The Caspian Sea, artificial island is the better method because of the economic and technical convenience. But compared with the traditional way of reclaiming land from beaches, the construction of artificial island should be given with more attention to the ocean hydrological and dynamic changes, the mutual implication between engineering zone and marine environment. Finally, conclusions wrap up the thesis in order to summarize the acquired findings.