Marine Geodesy For Hazard Investigation of EDOP Production Platform, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

These research focus on the application of marine geodesy in evaluating the potential risks that affect the positioning of any marine vessel while waiting on safe anchorage for further instruction in Mobil Oil Mining Lease (OML) 112, about 44-km offshore of Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. Multibeam echo sounders, side-scan sonar and the shallow seismic recording system were used to investigate the seabed topography and shallow geology of EDOP PP vicinity. The results show that the area is stratigraphically subdivided into the upper soft silty clay unit, which grades into Clay and continues into Medium Sand to the penetration depth. The Side Scan Sonar imagery was studied carefully and interpreted accordingly. From the imagery, the area constitutes superficially soft Silty Clay sediment on the surface with some occasionally isolated strong sonar reflections. In the vicinity of the 500 m radius centered on EDOP PP, pipelines were observed to run out from the platform in the North-west, Eastern, and southern directions. Generally, these pipelines were observed to be exposed superficially along its length through to the coverage area.