Will the 2020's be Known as the 20K Decade? The 20K Subsea BOP is Here

摘要

The subsea blowout preventer (BOP) is one of the primary technologies that has enabled the oil and gasindustry to discover and develop deeper and more complex wells offshore. Since the invention of thefirst ram-type BOP in the 1920s, ever-developing BOP technology has expanded the boundaries of a safedrilling environment. New learnings derived from historical usage and advances in material science havebeen applied as we continue to push the envelope further. The 1980s saw a leap in offshore technologyas 15,000psi (15K) BOPs hit the market. For nearly 40 years, 15K has been the limit. In the early 2010s,discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) were being made that suggested a need for 20,000psi (20K) subseaBOPs. A handful of companies have spent the rest of the decade pursuing a cost-effective and technically-capable 20K subsea BOP solution, while regulatory bodies have debated the safe implementation of thisstep-change. The year 2020 will mark the point in time a fully qualified 20K subsea BOP becomes availableto the industry. As a result, the 2020s may very well become known as the decade 20K assets becamefeasible, opening up a whole new set of opportunities for oil companies around the world. The leap from 15K to 20K was far more challenging than the leap from 10K to 15K that the industrymade in 1980s. Nearly everything had to change. Not just the technology, but even the way companies worktogether. This paper explains the challenge of the 20K leap, provides a summary of the design and testing thathas gone into developing the industry's first fully qualified subsea 20K subsea BOP, and discusses how 20Khas changed the way operators, contractors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) work together.