Temporary service bases are established as soon as exploration and early 

 development begins. Temporary bases may be expanded into permanent service 

 bases but only after a significant discovery of oil or gas has been made. 

 Pipeline installation service bases locate during the latter part of the 

 development phase; preferred locations are the pipeline landfall sites and 

 supporting pipe casting yards. Preferred locations for platfonm installation 

 service bases are sites nearest to the platforms. 



In addition to the general factors affecting location, service bases usu- 

 ally have specific siting considerations and impacts (Table 8). 



Transportation facilities 



Pipelines usually are the preferred method of transporting oil from off- 

 shore to onshore locations (sometimes tankers are used). Gas is always trans- 

 ported by pipeline. The locations of pipelines usually depend upon decisions 

 based on distance from shore (the shorter the better), and environmental con- 

 siderations, e.g., ocean bottoms and landfall beaches. The location, costs, 

 and suitability of pipeline easements also are important considerations. Usu- 

 ally the production threshold that must be met to justify the construction of 

 a pipeline is 70,000 bbl /d for oil and 500 million ft^/d for gas. 



Pipeline construction and operations require a number of onshore support 

 facilities including pipe coating yards, service bases, testing and inspection 

 services, diving companies, and survey teams. Pumping stations are sometimes 

 required and, depending on the final destination of the oil or gas, a refin- 

 ery, processing plant, marine terminal, or storage facilities may become 

 necessary. Siting considerations and impacts of facilities directly associ- 

 ated with pipelines are listed in Table 9. 



Marine terminal facilities 



In Florida, marine tenminals will most likely receive crude oil from off- 

 shore locations via pipelines during the major portion of the production 

 phase, although small tankers (16,000-25,000 deadweight tons) may be used 

 until pipelines are constructed. Until quantities of gas are found to be 

 large enough for production, gas is either flared or reinjected into the 

 reservoir. 



Tenninal facilities vary depending on the particular needs and the avail- 

 ability of waterfront or backup land. Berthing facilities may include off- 

 shore moorings, fixed island piers, fixed shoreside piers, floating T-piers, 

 or other methods. Site considerations and impacts associated with terminals 

 and product storage are presented in Table 10. 



Processing and treatment facilities 



Crude oil produced at the wellhead requires processing to separate oil, 

 natural gas, brine, water, and suspended and dissolved solids. The processing 

 takes place at the well site, onshore, or both. The nature and location of 

 facilities that will be used to separate these ingredients from the well stream 

 depend on the characteristics of the ingredients and transportation. 



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