From the outset, Tarpon’s mission with every customer interaction has been to “Meet or Exceed Expectations Every Time”. Recently, a contract was awarded to Tarpon and with various Tarpon teams working together, the project ended in success – on time and within budget.

The Lower Fars Pilot Project was a heavy oil development in the Ratqa area of Kuwait. Consisting of five (5) remote wellsite facilities and a central tank farm connected to the existing Ratqa production system, the intent of the pilot was to demonstrate Canada’s Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand technology on the Lower Fars reservoir.

The concept of heavy oil recovery was new to the client prior to the finalization of the contract with Tarpon. During the negotiations stage, engineers from the United Arab Emirates visited Tarpon’s head office in Calgary and were given an on-site tour of the Manatokan site where Tarpon had completed a project of a similar scope. “Tarpon was given a very short deadline on this project - only 90 days,” says Blake Wickland, Divisional Sales Manager. “The project’s schedule was not our only hurdle. The clients’ regional parameters resulted in time zone constraints, due to the fact that they are 10 hours ahead of Calgary. Communication was extremely important as the scope of work continued to change throughout the project while the deadline remained 90 days,” says Wickland.

The execution was provided by various groups within the Electric & Controls division. The key groups involved in the project included, Engineering, Instrumentation Design, Drafting, SCADA, Panel Shop, Procurement, Telecommunications and Construction Services, to name a few, with project management provided by Robin Hurrell, Project Manager, Integrated Services.

Tarpon’s scope included constructing six (6) separate MCC buildings consisting of a special designed container, engineering of the multiple control systems, instrumentation design, specifications and procurement, burner systems design and fabrication and the facilities’ electrical design. The control system consisted of a Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3) safety rated system (HMIA), the newest Modicon PLC platform (M340), Magelis operator interface at each of the facilities and one SCADA Host (Citect).

As Tarpon strengthens its presence internationally and in the Alberta oil sands market, SIL applications will become a standard in all engineered control systems. “The Lower Fars Pilot Project’s hardware was a SIL rated application but not a true SIL system based on the client’s requirements. However, in saying that, it was a great experience for the team to be exposed to control systems of this caliber to prepare for what’s to come in the future,” says Read.

The projects’ adversities and time constraints required a full team effort to meet all expedited delivery schedules. “The team was the fundamental driver in the success of the project. They did all that was necessary to complete the job on time,” says Hurrell. The team’s collaborative efforts had successfully completed this project within the 90 day timeframe and shipped on schedule in early June. “We had a great team, everyone worked well and pulled together to meet the deadline while adapting to the changing scope of the project.” says Wickland.