The demand for energy extends the exploration and production of oil and gas to increasingly remote and harsh environments. Subsea systems are one of the main solutions to capitalize on the growing demand for deep water and ultra-deep water oil and gas production using subsea separation, boosting and processing systems. However, when moving into subsea systems, the maintenance activities become more complex and expensive. Typically, failures on subsea systems demand special maintenance resources such as technical specialists, divers, Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV), Semi-sub Rigs and Diver Support Vessels and are associated with longer mobilisation times for the required intervention vessels. This has a major impact on the field development profitability which is a simple equation of the incomes and expenses. This formula accounts for factors such as capital expenditures (CAPEX), operating expenditures (OPEX), production rate, product price and downtime. The result of large number failures is the reduction of the field’s total production volume, generating less revenue, and increase operational expenditure (OPEX). In order to achieve a sustainable production rate and profitable development, reliability and maintainability are key factors to efficiently keep the production from the wells and sustain the field’s economic performance. Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) Analysis is a well-established methodology to evaluate the uncertainty related to these "unforeseen" events, and can strengthen the decision making process. With RAM analysis it is possible to forecast the production efficiency of oil and gas fields taking into account failures, repairs times and different maintenance strategies. This paper presents a case study on a subsea development which demonstrates how Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) analysis can be used to optimise maintenance strategy by quantifying the Net Present Value for each option.
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