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It has often been said that water is the essence of life. Today, however, some people may suggest that while water retains its importance, another resource is gaining more and more prominence and relevance to our life - oil.
While natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand has been long explored and extracted, interest in a production of crude oil has only started recently. The Platong Oil Central Processing Platform(PLOCPP) is the first processing platform made in Thailand by Unocal Thailand, Clough Thailand and Unithai Shipyard and Engineering Co., Ltd. It was installed in the middle of the gulf of Thailand, about 300 kilometers off the shore from Songkhla late last year.
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Unocal Thailand was granted a concession to explore petroleum reserves in Thailand since 1968. In the past, however, the company was interested only in the production of natural gas. It was only when competition in the field of natural gas became fiercer that Unocal turned its attention to crude oil. Three years ago, its survey team confirmed that there are some crude oil reserves in the old natural gas sites that are worth the production. To be exact, there are about 50 million barrels of oil within the Unocal's concession.
The PLOCPP was installed here at the Platong field because of its central location surrounded by other reserves.
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Oil-producing staff work in shift, 12 hours each. They are here on the platform 14 days, then go back for a break on the shore for 14 days. The long shift, heat and loud noise from heavy machines plus the total attention required for working with flammable fuel causes stress and fatigue. No surprise the Living Quarter Platform is fully equipped with everything one would want for relaxation and recreation - a mini football field, air-conditioned fitness center, a small golf range, modern cafeteria, video room as well as reading corner.
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What is the process of oil extraction? It starts with a survey and exploration. Once the exploration department confirms that a certain site has enough oil reserve, the company installs a wellhead platform. Unlike the oil reserves in the Middle East, which are normally huge, those in the Gulf of Thailand are small ones that exist between rock beds. That is why instead of drilling straight downwards, Unocal has to develop a new technique of drilling that is capable of twisting and turning in different directions. On average, the drilling department has to dig in for more than 10,000 feet before reaching the oil reserve.
Once the crude oil was extracted, it will be sent through undersea pipelines to the PLOCPP for purification. After that, the oil is sent through the underwater pipelines to be stored in a tanker, waiting to be sold and processed into different petroleum products, be they benzene, diesel, gasoline or liquid gas, which in turn is a factor in the production of almost everything we are using in everyday life.
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