OTC 18387

To Pig or Not to Pig: The Marlin Experience With Stuck Pig

G. Fung, W.P. Backhaus, S. McDaniel, and M. Erdogmus, BP America

Copyright 2006, Offshore Technology Conference

location which is located in approximately 200 ft water depth.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2006 Offshore Technology Conference held in Figure 1 shows the estimated temperature profile for the
Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 14 May 2006.
Marlin oil export line for different flowrates. Since this
This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
pipeline does not have any insulation, the higher flowrate
presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to fluids retain heat for longer distances.
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Offshore Technology Conference, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
OTC are subject to publication review by Sponsor Society Committees of the Offshore
Technology Conference. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this Temperature Profile for Marlin Oil Export Line
paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Offshore Technology
120
Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not
more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous 10 mbd
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, OTC, P.O. 110 20 mbd
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. 30 mbd
100 40 mbd
Temperature (F) WAT
50 mbd
Abstract 90
60 mbd
70 mbd
On June 11, 2004, a pig was stuck in the BP deepwater Gulf of 80
Mexico Marlin TLP oil export pipeline. The pig was stuck
70
approximately nine miles from the Marlin TLP in 1200 feet of
water depth. The pig was successfully removed ten days later. 60
Increased flowrate

50
This paper described the Marlin TLP oil export pipeline wax Increased flowrate

management strategy and the circumstances that led to the 40

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000
stuck pig incident. It also details the stuck pig removal Total Distance (ft)
process and the lessons learnt from the incident.
Figure 1 Marlin Oil Export Line Temperature Profile

Introduction
The Marlin Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is located in Viosca
Knoll Block 915 in the Gulf of Mexico. The water depth at the
platform location is approximately 3,250 feet.
The Marlin TLP is host to three Marlin Field dry tree wells,
two Marlin Field subsea wells, two subsea King Field wells,
one subsea King West Field well and one Nile Field well
These multiphase production well fluids are separated and
processed on the Marlin TLP prior to export via two dedicated
pipelines, a 14-inch gas export and a 10-inch oil export to
neighboring shallow water facilities; Main Pass 260 and Main
Pass 225, respectively. Both of the Main Pass (MP) facilities
are not operated by BP.
Wax Management for Marlin Oil Export Pipeline System
Original Design
The Marlin TLP to Main Pass 225 Platform oil export line is a
non-insulated pipeline approximately 22 miles long.
Heat loss to the surrounding seawater causes the fluid
temperature to drop below its wax appearance temperature
(WAT, which is approximately 95oF to 100oF) in the first few
miles. Since the pipe wall has the lowest temperature, the
heavy molecular weight paraffinic hydrocarbons begin to
solidify and deposit on the pipe wall over time and eventually
give rise to an exponentially increasing pressure drop (due to
reduction in the flow diameter and / or increases in the pipe
roughness.)
Wax deposition models run for the Marlin oil export pipeline
earlier in the project indicated that a wax buildup of 0.009
inches thickness occurs in the Marlin oil export line at 40
mbod flow rate after 40 days (Figure 2). The models also
indicated that the most of the wax is deposited in the first
30,000 ft (5.7 miles) of the Marlin oil export line. Total
volume of wax deposited for this case is estimated at 135 bbls.

The oil leaves the Marlin TLP at a temperature of

approximately 120 oF and drops to 40 oF over the first 7,300 ft
(1.4 miles) of flowline due to the sea water temperature
gradient. The oil then warms to about 65 oF at the MP 225
2 OTC 18387

Pigging Frequency Optimization

Upon completion of wax inhibitor elimination, the next step in
Marlin oil export line wax management optimization study
was to optimize the pigging cycles based on export rates and
measured pressure drops through the oil export line. The study
resulted in extending the pigging frequency from every 3 days
to 14 days.

Sequence of Events Leading Up To Stuck Pig

Extended No-Pigging Period

On January 18, 2004, the 14 day pigging cycle ceased due to a
failure in the pigging valve. The pigging valve could not be
replaced or repaired without a complete production shutdown
and oil export pipeline depressurized.

Since a platform shutdown was scheduled to take place in

three weeks time, the decision was made to continue
Figure 2 Marlin Oil Export Pipeline Multiphase Wax producing without pigging until the shutdown. For various
Deposit Plot reasons, the shutdown was delayed and actually did not take
In light of these evaluations, the original Marlin oil export line place until the middle of April.
wax management plan was to use a regular single trip pigging
technique (Marlin to MP225) to remove the wax build up. During the planned platform shutdown (April 16-17, 2004),
This plan also aligned with BPs approach to similar export the pigging valve was repaired. The period between pigging
lines such as Pompano, Forties and Beatrice where a wide runs was January 18, 2004 through April 17, 2004. Because of
range of more severe wax problems have been successfully the extended no-pigging period, there were concerns that the
managed. This technique is preferred from an operating oil export pipeline might have an appreciable layer of paraffin
expense standpoint as continuous wax inhibition is very deposited along its length.
expensive in higher wax content export systems.
There were two options considered at this point. The first
Wax Management for Marlin Oil Export Pipeline System option considered was to soak the oil export pipeline with
Early Start-up Alternate Strategy paraffin solvent to soften or dissolve the wax deposits before
re-starting pigging operations. This option would require a
The Marlin oil export pipeline pigging system experienced a
large amount of solvent (> 5000 gallon), a high volume
pigging valve failure early in the life of the platform in 1999.
solvent injection pump, and extended production flowrate
The delivery time for repair valve parts was 5 to 7 weeks and
curtailment. The second option considered was to
the decision was made to use wax inhibitor without pipeline
progressively pig with initial reduced diameter / less
pigging as a temporary wax management solution. The intent
aggressive pigs.
was to phase out wax inhibitor as soon as the pigging valve
was repaired and the TLP was under steady maximum oil
The Marlin Operations & Engineering teams selected the
export conditions. However, given the steadily increasing
second option (progressive pigging) due to its simplicity and
production volumes as additional wells were brought on line
successful past experience.
dictated that this strategy could not be attempted until early
2003.
Progressive Pigging Plan For Wax Removal After No-
Pigging Interval
Wax Inhibitor Phase Out Program
The progressive pigging plan involved sending three (3)
The crystal modifier type wax inhibitor was initially injected
consecutive poly pigs in increasing sizes to start pigging
at 100 ppm concentration rates to both of the King Field
cycles. Table 1 shows the results of these pigging runs
subsea flowlines. The chemical injection point was later
together with the observations made by MP 225 personnel at
moved to the LP separator oil outlet due to a mechanical
the time of the pig received. Figure 3 shows a standard poly
problem at the subsea injection valves.
pig.
The wax inhibitor wax was completely phased out in May
2003 with the pigging frequency initiated once every 3 days
and maintained at this level until MP 225 reported minimal or
no paraffin received with the pig. The wax inhibitor phase out
was successful and resulted in substantial operating cost
savings.
OTC 18387 3

Table 1 Progressive Pigs in Increasing Sizes

Date Pig Comments From MP225
Size/Type
5/18/2004 7.5" Poly Pig received at MP 225 and
(foam) safely retrieved after three hours
being in the pig trap. Clean pig.
5/21/2004 8" Poly Pig received broken in half.
(foam) Most parts of the broken pig
were believed to be retrieved
later on. Clean Pig
5/27/2004 10" Poly Pig received in good shape with Figure 4 Javelina Cleaning Pig with steel brush strip
(foam) little paraffin on it. The plan was implemented with the assumption that the full
size poly pig would further remove any remaining soft
deposits off the pipeline wall and the Javelina pig (poly pig
with brush strip) would scrape off most of the remaining
hardened paraffin from the pipe wall. It was expected that the
Javelina pig would be heavily coated with hardened paraffin
(due to the scraping action of the steel brush strips) at the pig
receiver located on MP 225. If the first Javelina pig was
heavily coated with paraffin then additional Javelina pigs
would be run until the pipeline was clean (clean pig at the
receiver end). Table 3 shows the results of those pigging runs.

Table 3 Cleaning Type Pigging Used in Marlin Oil

Export Line
Date Pig Size Comments From MP225
Figure 3 Poly Pig
/Type
6/9/2004 10" Poly Pig received in good shape with
Pressure Drop Observations in Marlin Export Line Pre and (foam) little paraffin on it.
Post Pigging 6/10/2004 10" Javelina Pig received in very good shape
In parallel to the aforementioned progressive pigging plan, Poly with little paraffin on it. (Like
pressure drop analysis was performed during the pigging new)
program. Table 2 shows Marlin oil export line pressure and
flowrate information. The data confirmed that the oil export Further System Analysis Can it be Something Else?
line pipeline pressure drop had been increasing over time.
The indication from MP 225 was that the first Javelina pig
arrived clean and was like new. In addition, similar to other
Since MP 225 indicated that the pigs were clean with little
pigging runs, it yielded only a small decrease in the pressure
paraffin on them, and the Marlin oil export pipeline still had
drop. However, the pipeline pressure drop was still higher than
higher flowing pressure than usual, it was believed that the
what would have been predicted using model data. This
most of softer paraffin buildup was removed leaving some
analysis caused the Marlin team to suspect that paraffin
harden paraffin deposits on the pipe wall. The lack of wax
deposition might not be the sole source of the pipeline high-
reported by MP 225 was taken as good evidence that the
pressure differentials. Many other blockage theories
pigging strategy was working and could proceed to the next
(asphaltenes, water, hydrates, closed valve, etc) were
stage.
evaluated but most of the evidence pointed toward wax
Table 2 Marlin Oil Export Line Pressure Data deposition or water pockets.
Date Marlin MP-225 Oil Rate
Pressure (psi) Pressure (psi) (bopd) Available Information as of June 10, 2004
May 2003 848 491 35220 The available information on the afternoon of June 10, 2004:.
June 2003 1324 552 53205 MP 225 operators stated that all previously run five
February 1549 472 50453 (5) Poly pigs had arrived in clean condition with little
2004 or no paraffin.
June 2004 1724 417 43895 Little or no paraffin was collected at MP 225 during
the previous five (5) pigging runs.
With the information available at the time, the Marlin team The recorded pigging run data indicated the Javelina
decided to run another 10" poly pig followed by a 10" Javelina pig (Poly pig with brush strip), which is supposed to
pig (poly pig with steel brush strip) to confirm the previous be more aggressive than the regular poly pigs, was
observation. Figure 4 shows an example of a Javelina pig. not very efficient in cleaning the pipeline or the
4 OTC 18387

pipeline was already clean.
The pipeline pressure drop was still higher than
expected. Decision made to not increase production
levels until the oil export pipeline pressure drops
were reduced to the early January 2004 levels.
Around 12:21 PM, the Marlin oil export pipeline pump
shutdown due to low flowrate (~2200 bopd) and high
backpressure. The Marlin Operations team tried to re-start the
pump immediately but were unsuccessful due to sustained
high backpressure.

Events Leading Up To The Utilization of A More Aggressive Using oil flowrate calculations, the stuck pig was estimated to
Cup Pig be approximately nine (9) miles from the Marlin facility and
The team decided to continue pigging the pipeline with a thirteen (13) miles from the MP 225 facility (Figure 7) in
slightly more efficient pig. The existing pigs at the Marlin approximately 1200 of water depth.
TLP at the time of the decision are shown in Figure 5.
June 11 Pigging Run
Yellow Super Mag Pig launched ~ 8:00am
50000 2500

45000 Flowrate

MP225 Pressure
2000
40000
Marlin Pressure

35000

1500
30000

Pressure Psi
Flow Bopd
25000
1000
20000

15000
(a) Poly Pig 4 available (b) Red &White Disc Pig 4 available 500

10000

5000
Pig Launched 0
8:00am
0
12:00:00 AM 2:24:00 AM 4:48:00 AM 7:12:00 AM 9:36:00 AM 12:00:00 PM 2:24:00 PM 4:48:00 PM 7:12:00 PM

-5000 -500
Time

Figure 6 - June 11 Pigging Run Pressure Profile

(c) Orange Cup Pig 1 available (d) Yellow Super Mag Pig 11 available Marlin 10" Oil Export Pipeline Profile
Estimated Stuck Pig
500
MP225
Figure 5 - Existing Pigs at Marlin TLP Marlin TLP 100% fillup: 10,900
bbls
0

The team decided to use the Yellow Super Mag Pig (d) also -500
known as a Poly Tri Cup pig. Other factors effecting the Touchdown:300 bbls
Elevation [ft]

-1000
selection of this pig were:
-1500
Pig Stop location 12:21 pm

It is more efficient in wiping the pipe wall than the -2000

(4373 bbls)

regular Poly pig (a).

-2500
It is a cast polyurethane pig so it is able to traverse location as of 9:09 am,
start of pressure build
joints, valves bends, and reduced pipe diameters. -3000 (1940 bbls)

It had been used in the Marlin oil export line many -3500
-10000 10000 30000 50000 70000 90000 110000 130000
times with good results. Horizontal Distance from Marlin TLP [ft]

The Marlin Operations team was familiar with its use

and characteristics.
There were eleven (11) Yellow Super Mag pigs
onboard the platform.
In addition to wax concerns, the team decided to install the
Yellow Super Mag Pig with water indicator papers to detect
if there is any water accumulation in the pipeline.
Events Leading Up To Stuck Pig in Marlin Oil Export Line
The Yellow Super Mag Pig was launched around 8:00 AM on
June 11, 2004 (Figure 6). The pig began to show pressure
resistance around 9:16 AM. The Marlin Operationss team tried
to compensate for the increasing Marlin backpressure (the
maximum pipeline pump discharge pressure is ~2300 Psig.)
by systematically reducing the oil production rate to no avail.
Figure 7 Estimated stuck pig location based on flow volume
Stuck Pig Removal Plan
A multi-discipline team consisting of the Marlin Field
engineers, Marlin Operations, Production Chemistry team
members, internal BP specialists and external consultants were
immediately mobilized to develop a pig recovery plan. A 24/7
Crisis Center was established.
The selected pig recovery plan was to mobilize pumping
equipment at MP 225 and pump the pig back to the Marlin
TLP using buyback crude from the Main Pass Oil Gathering
System. Some of the major steps required were:
Install pumping skid on MP 225 to pump backward
to Marlin.
OTC 18387
Install equipment to inject 5000 gallons of wax
solvent at the front of the buyback crude.
Install equipment to inject 300 ppm of wax inhibitor
with the buyback crude.
Set up crude oil buyback agreement from Main Pass
Oil Gathering System.
Set up the Marlin facility to receive the crude oil
from MP 225 which entailed:
Lining up to re-route the buyback crude oil into
the heated King subsea flowline system since
Marlin has no oil storage capabilities.
Mobilize a diver to lock open the oil export
pipeline subsea check valve.
Stuck Pig Removal Event
The Yellow Super Mag pig was successfully removed from
the Marlin oil export pipeline on June 22, 2005 using the back
flowing technique. Use of the real time automation system
which allowed both the Houston office and the Marlin TLP to
monitor real time pressures and flowrates along the entire
system was invaluable in this removal process. Figure 8
shows what the pig looked like after it was retrieved back on
the Marlin platform.
Figure 8 Marlin oil export pipeline recovered pig
Lessons Learnt
The following are some of the major lessons learnt from the
Marlin stuck pig incident:
1) Even though there was broad input and communication
amongst the various teams, there was no Management of
Change (MOC) written after the decision was made to suspend
pigging operations while waiting on the shutdown to occur. If
an MOC had been generated at that point, it would have
alarmed the operation support team and paraffin inhibitor
would have been injected continuously until the pigging valve
fixed. A timely MOC could have greatly reduce the severity
or completely eliminate the stuck pig incident.
2) An alternative strategy / protocol should have been in place
in case pigs could not be run for any reason. With the wax
5
inhibitor injection phase-out and the optimization of the
pigging program, all of the conservatism in the original wax
management strategy had been removed. An alternative wax
management strategy /protocol should have been developed
and communicated to the offshore operations team.
3) A better pig launcher/receiver valve design should have
been incorporated. The pig launcher/receiver valve design is
critical to the operability of an offshore facility as it usually
requires a complete platform shutdown and pipeline
depressurization in order to replace the valves around the pig
launcher/receiver. A very common valve failure is due to
pressure/flow equalization during the pigging operation. Care
should be made in design to minimize valve cutting during pig
launching and receiving operations. Simple sacrificial needle
valve bypass modifications can be added around an existing
pig launcher/receiver. (Figure 9)
Figure 9 Pig launcher pressure/flow equalization system
4) There appears to have been very poor communication
between the Marlin platform and the MP 225 platform as to
the condition of the recovered pigs and the amount of paraffin
received. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the main
reason for the poor communication was that the field
observation is highly subjective.
Traditionally, pigging cycle optimizations have been based
predominantly on the observed recovered pig condition from
the pig receiver.
Some of the typical field observations are:
Recovered pig appearance (bent, cut, collapsed, twisted,
torn, etc)
Volume of solids collected around the pig receiver
Physical condition of the solids (hard, medium and soft)
The field data is highly subjective due to many different
factors such as the observers experience, the pig receiver
6 OTC 18387

operation mode (bypass open/close), the time between pig
arrival and pig removal from the pig receiver, etc.
As a part of the incident investigation, the Marlin operation
team visited the MP 225 facilities on June 12, 2004. Figure 10
shows the picture of the 8" Poly Pig that was launched on May
18, 2004. This pig had been lodged in the pig receiver. MP
225 personnel stated that after 3 hours, the pig was safely
retrieved and it was in good shape.
In the middle of the stuck pig recovery planning, a method
was developed to allow observation into the pipeline system
behaviors and trends during pigging operation. The method
provides a scientific/non-subjective means to determine when
pigging is required and how effective the pigging operation is
even before the pig arrives at the pig receiver. Figure 13
shows an example of the recorded pigging run raw data trend
while Figure 14 shows the same data after being post-
processed.

Marlin Pigging Run

May 27 10" Poly Pig
50,000 1800

1600
45,000
1400

40,000 1200

Flowrate BOPD
1000
35,000 Flowrate
MP225 Pressure 800
Marlin Pressure

30,000 600

400
25,000
Pig Launched 200
9:30am

Figure 10 - 8" Poly Pig at MP225 20,000

12:00:00 AM 4:48:00 AM 9:36:00 AM 2:24:00 PM 7:12:00 PM 12:00:00 AM
0

Time
Figure 11 shows parts of one of the 10" Poly Pig that was
recovered at MP 225. Figure 13 May 27 Pig Run raw data trend

May 27 2004 Pigging Run

10" Poly

34
Suspected Deposition Location Length
Time = 9:30am - 12:17am = 167 min
32 Location ~4.88 ft/s = 0 - 48898 ft (9.26miles) total length
Horizontal Length = 46700 ft (8.84 miles)

30
PKG Value

Figure 11 10" Poly Pig parts at MP225 28

MP 225 personnel consistently indicated no wax observation 26

at the pig receiver. Figure 12 shows the picture taken by the 24

Marlin Operations team viewing the pig receiver area with Pig Launched
9:30am

collected wax in a bucket. 22

20
12:00:00 2:24:00 AM 4:48:00 AM 7:12:00 AM 9:36:00 AM 12:00:00 2:24:00 PM 4:48:00 PM 7:12:00 PM 9:36:00 PM 12:00:00
AM PM AM
Time

Figure 14 May 27 Pig run post-processed data trend

The method requires only a few continuous data points input
and provides a means to confirm the effectiveness of a pigging
run. It is also an effective means to evaluate the solid buildup
condition of the pipeline system prior to and after the pigging
operation.

Additional works are being performed to determine if the

methodology can also be used to scientifically optimize the
following operations.
Figure 12 Pig Receiver location on MP 225 Pig type selection. (Poly vs. BI-DI vs. Tri-Cup, etc)
Field specific pigging intervals.
5) A new technique is needed to determine conditions inside
the pipeline for a fact-based decision. Field based paraffin inhibition chemicals injection
type and quantity.
OTC 18387 7

A more detailed description of the new pigging data

processing methodology may be provided in a later
publication.

Conclusions
This paper describes the Marlin TLP oil export pipeline wax
management strategy, the circumstances that led to the stuck
pig incident, and the lessons learnt from the incident.

Some of the major lessons learnt are as follow:

1. An MOC should always be prepared and could have
prevented the Marlin stuck pig incident.
2. An alternative strategy / protocol is required to
handle unexpected operating scenarios.
3. A better pig launcher /receiver valves design should
minimize the need to replace cut-valves.
4. Field observation to determine pigging effectiveness
is highly subjective.
5. A new technique is needed to determine conditions
inside the pipeline for a fact-based decision.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank BP America and Shell E&P
for permission to publish this paper. The authors also express
their sincere appreciation to the Marlin Team for their support
in collection of data and sharing of information and lessons
learnt on the stuck pig incident.