The era of easy oil is coming to an end, a lot of the major reserve finds these days are located in very challenging operating environments such as deep and ultra-deep water. Subsea tie-back systems over the years have evolved as a solution to the challenge of harnessing these reserves in a cost effective manner. The challenges for subsea type developments are not only limited to the cost of drilling and infrastructure or the complexity of the subsea layouts but also the technology of assessing and producing the volumes to surface poses a great challenge. Production technology challenges include multi-phase fluid flow, completion design, flow assurance (hydrate mitigation & management), well intervention and long term well monitoring. Of particular concern are the issues of water- flood management, intelligent completion & production systems which are core to achieving increased ultimate reservoir recovery and production volumes required for cost effectiveness. This article highlights the major production technology challenges articulated for a typical long subsea tie-back development and discusses how these could be managed.
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