Deepwater Technology And Deepwater Developments

This paper discusses the challenge of successful deepwater development. The logic and structure of a technology development programme, and the application of developing technologies to projects, is discussed. Integration across the various technologies is a key factor, and a continual challenge. The technological areas include safety, environment, survey and imaging, drilling, production operations, subsea, intervention, pipelines and platforms. The future direction of deepwater development is discussed in the context of the competitive pressures in the energy market, and the implications for technological progress are considered. Introduction This presentation reviews the value delivered by deepwater technology to this point in deepwater development, it proceeds to consider the conditions for future success, and refers to an example that illustrates the development process at work. Business Background for Deepwater Developments The record of oil prices since the start of the modem oil industry around 150 years ago is familiar to most people in the industry (Figure 1). The rapid progression towards the current records for deepwater production has taken place over the last 30 years, spurred by the major price increases during the 1970's. During this 30 year period a re~narkable transformation has been made in the industry, and this transformation is continues today. Looking more closely at the pric e ofoil over this 30 year period (Figure 2), we see that although "money of the day" prices have been at a relatively high level recently, the trend in inflation adjusted prices is generally downward. During those last thirty years, what progress has technology delivered to enable competitive hydrocarbon production? If we look at the performance of a set of offshore projects during this time period; what characteristics do we see?