an important concern in locating the temporary base. If a commercial 

 find is discovered by the same company which used the temporary base, 

 the permanent base will probably be set up in the same port. 



It should be noted that an early commitment to a service base does 

 not necessarily commit the area to other facilities demanded during 

 subsequent OCS development stages, such as terminals or processing 

 plants. Although industrial incentives lean toward locating facilities 

 together, there is little evidence to suggest that industry now situates 

 facilities to support early OCS development stages (such as service 

 bases) with later joint facilities in mind. 



9. Other factors : Experience in the Scottish sector of the North 

 Sea has indicated that, despite disadvantages in location, some communities 

 have attracted service base activity through a willingness to satisfy 

 industry demands in a timely manner [34]. However, in other instances, 

 despite the presence of efficient comprehensive service base facilities 

 open to all, on contract or otherwise, independent control of service 

 base operations may be highly valued by a particular operating company. 



Construction/ Installation 



Construction of a service base involves shorefront preparation. A 

 service base will locate where shorefront port facilities meeting water 

 depth requirements are already available. This minimizes costly start- 

 up time spent in lengthy permit procedures for dredge and fill, zoning, 

 and other procedural requirements. Under certain conditions, dredging 

 and filling may be required either as the base develops or for maintenance 

 purposes. The base will evolve in size and services concurrently with 

 offshore operation growth and field development. 



Construction of the base is a relatively rapid process; however, 

 the base will probably not be completed during a single construction 

 phase. Components of the service base will be constructed in response 

 to offshore service demands which include the size and age of the field, 

 new discoveries, and other factors. The construction process for these 

 facilities should be of limited environmental concern after the site has 

 been prepared in accordance with environmental safeguards. As the 

 service base responds to rapidly evolving offshore needs, the availability 

 of a site ready for construction is important to the supply-base contractors, 



Operations 



The central staging area is the heart of the exploration, development 

 and production activities for offshore petroleum. Figure 29 shows the_ 

 movement of persons, equipment, and materials through the central staging 

 area to and from the mineral -processing area, workover areaj offshore 



127 



