Dragados Offshore history
In 1972 Dragados Offshore initiated its operations with the construction of Shell’s Amposta field production platform in the Spanish Mediterranean Sea. This project was the springboard for the opening of our current yard in Cadiz, Spain, which was built in 1975. The location was selected for its suitability to cater to offshore projects with a final destination in the North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the Northern and Western Coasts of Africa.
Over this decade, Dragados expanded its international projects, including seven offshore structures for Brazil. One notable project, for Marathon Oil, involved the creation of a 5,000 ton integrated deck.
Between 1986 and 1988, Dragados undertook one of its most important flagship projects: the modular fabrication for the expansion of the Mongstad refinery in Norway. This work involved more than 150 different modules with an overall weight of 16,000 tons.
Fabrication of the Scott utility module for Amerada Hess began in 1990. When it was completed two years later, it was the largest one-piece module completed at the time in the Cadiz yard, weighing 9,100 tons and with dimensions of 45m x 25m x 25m.
Dragados Offshore was awarded the contract for the construction of the process modules for the FPSO Captain for Texaco. This project opened a new business area for Dragados Offshore.
The fabrication of the Britannia Jacket, slated for installation in the British North Sea, began in 1995 in the Cadiz yard. This jacket, with dimensions of 78m x 70m x 165m and weighing almost 21,000 tons was, at the time, the largest project built in Cadiz.
Dragados won the contract for one of the most prestigious projects in Europe: The fabrication of the Öresund Project, a bridge linking the cities of Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden. The company built 49 bridge spans of steel-concrete mixed structure, each 140m long and 25m wide. The completed project weighed approximately 245,000 tons with a total length of nearly 7 kms. Time pressures were such that we had a delivery schedule of 2 spans every 21 days.
Dragados Offshore entered the Mexican market as a partner in an EPCI contract for PEMEX for a process and gas compression complex (AKAL GC). With this project, the company grew in critical ways: an important expansion in complex work represented by EPCI projects and an increase in activities outside the home base in Spain.
Also this year, Dragados Offshore began work on the semi-submersible hull Snorre B for Statoil. Again, the complexity of this work offered the company a new challenge, especially given that a great part of the work took place in confined spaces and with an array of exotic materials.
Dragados Offshore’s earlier work in Mexico led to three new contracts with the Mexican oil and gas company, PEMEX, for three new EPC projects: EPC-39, a utility and living quarter platform with its associated structures; EPC-60, a utility platform to assist the existing platforms of the AKAL GC field; and EPC 78, a gas compression and production complex with all associated and an overall weight of almost 20,000 tons.
These projects led the company to create a subsidiary company, Dragados Offshore de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
Following the establishment of the Mexican subsidiary, Dragados Offshore opened a fabrication yard in Tampico. This new yard created numerous opportunities to work with PEMEX and to expand the company’s reach into the Gulf of Mexico. With this expansion in mind, a commercial office - Dragados Offshore USA - was opened in Houston, Texas - the main oil and gas business center of the world.
In November 2004, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce awarded Dragados Offshore, S.A. with the Prince Felipe Business Excellence Prize, in his 9th Edition, thanking the company for the achieved targets related to Industrial Quality.
Dragados Offshore was honored with the Andalusian Award to Excellence (5th Edition) in the modality of "Great Companies,” which recognizes large Andalusian companies that have achieved competitive advantages within the market on the basis of excellence in management. The company had previously received two mentions: one for management processes and the other for management resources.
The same year, the enlargement and modernization of the facilities in Cadiz began, doubling the surface of the yard to increase the production capacity, which, in turn, allowed the company to take on both larger projects and larger workloads.
The highest manpower peak to date was reached this year, with over 5,000 employees, working on the simultaneous execution of two large and complex projects: Snohvit an LNG Process Plant for Statoil with a weight of 24,000 tons and Buzzard a process module for Nexen with a weight of 10,500 tons destined for the British sector of the North Sea.
Dragados Offshore was awarded the North Adriatic LNG project. This involved the construction of a 12,000 ton natural gas regasification terminal on a floating concrete base that was installed in the North Adriatic Sea near Venice. The topsides were built in the Cadiz yard and transported by sea in modules to the Port of Algeciras. The modules were then assembled onto the concrete gravity-based structure (GBS).
The company was awarded a contract by Bechtel-Jacobs for the assembly of the piperack modules for the Motiva Port Arthur Expansion Project in Port Arthur, Texas. This project marked Dragados Offshore’s entry into the American market. The total weight of the project exceeded 24,000 tons.
Dragados Offshore won the concession of the Algeciras Yard, a construction, installation, and integration yard, located in the north zone of the Bay of Algeciras, next to Gibraltar Airport, and 100km from our headquarters in Cádiz, Spain. The yard occupies nearly 350,000 m2, and the graving dock spans 386x194x20 meters, making it one of the largest in Europe. The quay has a water depth of -18.5 m LAT and a length of 260 m.
Dragados Offshore constructed a new quay in the Cadiz yard, which has a mooring line of 360 m and a water depth of 12 m. This signals the opening of a new line of business: the installation and integration of modules for large FPSO’s.
Another contract from Pemex entrusted Dragados Offshore de México with two new projects: The 5,000 ton HA-LT-01 Living Quarter for 201 people in the Gulf of Mexico; and the 6,000 ton electrical energy cogeneration platform (PG-ZAAP-C), installed in the Sonda de Campeche, in the Gulf of Mexico.
PC of two jackets for the marine platform of the Castor Complex, a wellhead platform jacket (2.600 tons) and a production utility quarter jacket (10.500 tons). The Amposta field is located in Spanish waters in the Mediterranean Sea, in a water depth of 1.700 meters and 22 km away from the town of Vinaròs (Castellón).
EPC including mechanical completion, onshore commissioning assistance, weighing, load-out, and sea fastening of the EKOFISK 2/4Z Jacket, a 11,700 ton wellhead platform (jacket and piles) for Conoco Phillips.
The South Arne Phase III Project for HESS consisted on the EPC of two wellhead platforms with weights of 1.600t and 1.350 t respectively, as well as the two jackets supporting these platforms, with a weight of 2.600t each.
Construction engineering, partial procurement, fabrication, mechanical completion, pre-commissioning, commissioning, load-out and sea fastening of the Jasmine Wellhead Platform Topsides (7,425 tons), Judy Riser Platform Topsides (9,320 tons), Jasmine Wellhead Platform Bridge (590 tons) and the Judy Riser Platform Bridge (895 tons). The Jasmine field is 240 km east of Aberdeen.
The ELDFISK 2/7S Project for ConocoPhillips consisted on the EPC including onshore commissioning assistance, load out and sea fastening of an eight-legged jacket, (13,400 tons), bridge support jacket (4,000 tons), and piles as part of the Greater Ekofisk Area Development.
Dragados Offshore is awarded the Mariner project for Statoil, consolidating the company’s position in Europe as a leading EPC contractor. The Mariner jacket will be the largest constructed by the company with a total weight of 22,400 t. Months afterward the Cadiz yard was awarded a second EPC project Vega Pleyade, a wellhead platform and jacket, by Total Austral with a final destination in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Dragados Offshore Mexico is awarded two EPCIC projects for Pemex: CA-Litoral-A and CB-Litoral-A, two large compression platforms.
Also this year, Dragados Offshore decided to further expand its facilities in the Mexican market by adding a new yard to its current asset portfolio in the country. This is Dragados Offshore’s second yard in Mexico and third yard globally. The strategic decision to acquire this new facility was made not only to satisfy growing demand in the local market, but also to further target projects in the North American and South American regions. The yard is set to be operational during 2015.
Pemex awards Dragados Offshore its second pipeline project, this award showcases our commitment to deliver quality projects and deliver superior results in all business areas to our clients.
Dragados Offshore initiates its activities into the offshore wind industry with the Hornsea Project awarded by Ørsted (former DONG Energy).
Pemex awards Dragados Offshore the CA-KU-A project, which includes the EPC and operation/maintenance for 10 years of the Compression Platform CA-KU-A1.
Dragados Offshore under his partnership agreement with Siemens, will develop, build and deliver the HVDC converter platform of DolWin6 HVDC grid connection Project for Tennet. The contract is considered an important milestone for Dragados Offshore, reinforcing its activities in the supply of platforms for the offshore wind industry, delivering a project at the forefront of its sector and consolidating its leading position in the offshore market