Introduction to Subsea

Lecture13:Subsea

Arun SChandel
AssistantProfessor aschandel@ddn.upes.ac.in 09997200339

Ocean Topography: UK/Norway continental i l shelfregion g

Ref:Topic19,2006,p2

OceanTopography:Rangeofdepths andtermsusedtoclassifyseafloor
Ref:Topic19,2006,p2

UKCSPrinciple Infrastructure S t b 2006 September

Ref:Topic19,2006,p1

ReservoirFluidProcessing
Reservoirfluids:oiland/orgaspluswaterand sand. Fluidprocessingfacilitiesexpensive UKoffshorefieldsarewellawayformland Typicalfieldconsistsofaseveralwelltieback tocentraloffshoreprocessingfacility Fluidsareseparatedthenexportedfrom facility. y
Ref:Topic19,2006,p5

Operator:MobileNorthSea Beryl y A 1st concrete Condeepstructureinstalled InNorthSea(1975) Waterdepth:120m 315kmNEofAberdeen

FluidProcessing:
ExampleBerylA&B

Ref:ExxonMobil,2004

Oilexportby tankeronly(via storagecells)

GasExport yPipeline p by

FluidProcessing:
ExampleBerylA&B

Ref:ExxonMobil,2004

BerylField:CurrentChallenges
Maturefieldlookingtoextendlife Anumberofaccumulationsexistabout 25,000ft(7.5km)fromplatform. Currenthighcostofsemisubrigratesmakes subseatiebackexpensive. ExxonMobilconsideringextendingplatform drillingreachfrom15,00ftto25,000asa viablewayofaccessingsatellitereserves. Worldwideinterestinterest inthisoption
Ref:Cutt,2007

NotableERDachievements: BP,WytchFarm(land) ExxonMobil,Sakhalin1(land) Norwegian g NorthSea ExxonMobile,Ringhorn Statoil,Visund (Floating)

Li i of Limits fextended d dreach hd drilling illi (ERD)

Ref:Wilson,2007

FlowAssuranceChallenges
Youmayquestiontheneedforoffshore platforms? Whynottransportthereservoirfluidsin pipelinesallthewaybacktoshore? Flowassuranceproblemscausedbythree three phaseflowandpressure/temperature reductionsrestrictsthelengthbywhich reservoirfluidscanbetransportedbysubsea pipeline
Ref:Topic19,2006,p5

FlowAssuranceChallenges
Readuponflowassurancesissuesrelatedto transportingunprocessedreservoirfluidsby subseapipeline, pipeline forexample:
Amin,2005,p7(sectiononTemperatureandPressure Interactions)andp8(sectiononFlowassurance)

Subseapipelineflowassuranceissuesinclude: waxdeposition, deposition asphalteneprecipitation precipitation,hydrate formation,slugflow

Flowassuranceissuesrelated Pressuretemperature reduction d ti from f reservoir i to t flowline(Amin,2005)

SolidGasHydratePrevention
Introductionthermodynamicinhibitorssuch asaddingsalts,glycolorotherchemical inhibitorstoreducetheamountoffreewater water. Thermalinsulationsuchaspipeinpipeor electricheatingoftheflowlinetoensurethe unprocessedfluidtemperatureremainsabove hydrateformationtemperature

SubseaPipeline:Lengthrestrictions
Flowassuranceissueslimitthelength length.Why? Flowlinelengthfortransportationof unprocessedfluidsfrom:
Oilreservoir<35km(ETAPproductionfacility,North Sea) Gasreservoir<110km(Mensa,GoM)

Wh Whyis i the h length l hof fanunprocessed dgasfl flowline li longerthananunprocessedoilpipeline?

Ref:Leffler,2003

TransportationofProcessedFluids
Pipelinecanbeusedforoilandgas Tankercanbeusedforoilifpipeline uneconomic Offshoregasisstrandedifapipelineorother meansareuneconomic i (for (f example l compressedgascarrier)

Ref:Topic19,2006,p7

FieldDevelopmentOptions/WaterDepths
Ref:Leffler,2003

SubseaTieback
Many a yfields e dsinNorth o t Seaclassed c assedasmarginal a g a economic. gnewp productionfacilitiesistoo Building expensive. Subseatiebacktoexistinginfrastructure(which mayrequireextendingprocessingfacilities) NorthSeahasextensiveinfrastructure Manyundevelopedsatellitereservoirswithin 30kmofexistinginfrastructure.
Ref:Topic19,2006,p13

AlternativeSubseaConfigurations

Manifold

Wellhead/XmasTree
Ref:Regg,2000,p7

SatelliteMultiWell SubseaDevelopment

HorizontalorVerticalXmasTree? Ref:Regg,2000,p7

SubseaTiebackAlwaysBest?
Blocksagainstsubseatiebackinclude:
Costofsemisubdrillingrigdayrates Economicoftiebacktothirdparty infrastructuremaybeunattractive. Fluidsmaybeincompatiblewithhostfacility fluids.

AlternativestoSubseaTieback
Extendedreachdrilling(ERD)isapossible alternativetosubseatieback MainrestrictiononERDisdistance<10 11km VentureProductionsChestnutField,CNSis agoodexampleofanewinnovative alternativetoasubseatieback

Timelysatellitefielddevelopmentrequiredfor sustainableNorthSeaOil&GasIndustry

Regions R i of fCNSand dNNSwithin ithi 30k 30kmof ffi fields ld currently tl underproductiontakingintoaccountexpected cessationofproduction
(Ref:Jayasekera,2002)