Significant Cost Reduction of Subsea Boosting Systems by Innovative Technologies

摘要

The deepwater oil and gas industry is in a state of rapid structural changes to align with the currentrn"lower for longer" commodity pricing environment. Deepwater operators' opportunities for large greenfieldrndevelopments are in a rapid decline due to poor return on investment in this market environment. Theserntypes of developments require large to ultra-large capital investments for expensive deepwater drilling andrncompletion activities as well as the high cost of new surface-piercing host facilities in deepwater. In contrast,rnbrownfield investments in known petroleum basins offer excellent investment opportunities in the currentrnclimate. The hydrocarbon risk is also lower based on historical knowledge of reservoir asset quality andrnperformance. One of the top opportunities for brownfield investment is low cost subsea boosting systems.rnThese projects do not require the drilling of new wells, or significant infrastructure investments in newrnsubsea equipment or new topside facilities (hosts, flowlines, risers, wells, etc.). Incremental investmentsrnin low cost boosting systems result in substantial increases in revenues and therefore high rates of return.rnThe boosting system utilizes existing infrastructure, which serves to increase the capital efficiency of earlierrninvestments in the field. Subsea boosting technology is mature and field proven. Prior designs have adoptedrnlarge subsea structures with unnecessary functionalities. The costs of subsea boosting systems have beenrnreduced by adopting several strategies: (1) simplifying the system design to reduce weight and cost, (2)rnsimplifying the installation and intervention and (3) reducing complexity and risk. Low cost boostingrnsystems are now the new standard that have substantially improved the business case for investment in thisrntechnology.