Batoil’s Offshore geotechnical survey  is a sub-field of geotechnical engineering. Our services includee, foundation design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning for human-made structures in the sea. Oil platforms, artificial islands and submarine pipelines are examples of such structures. The seabed has to be able to withstand the weight of these structures and the applied loads.

Geohazards must also be taken into account. The need for offshore developments stems from a gradual depletion of hydrocarbon reserves onshore or near the coastlines, as new fields are being developed at greater distances offshore and in deeper water, with a corresponding adaptation of the offshore site investigations.

Today, there are more than 7,000 offshore platforms operating at a water depth up to and exceeding 2000 m.

A typical field development extends over tens of square kilometers, and may comprise several fixed structures, infield flowlines with an export pipeline either to the shoreline or connected to a regional trunkline.

Environmental loads act primarily in the horizontal direction, but also have a vertical component. Some of these loads get transmitted to the foundation (the seabed). Wind, wave and current regimes can be estimated from meteorological and oceanographic data, which are collectively referred to as metocean data.

Depending on location, other geohazards may also be an issue. All of these phenomena may affect the integrity or the serviceability of the structure and its foundation during its operational lifespan – they need to be taken into account in offshore design.