The oil and gas industry is delving into deeper and more remote fields to unlock resources. New exploration activities are also heading for ultra-deep-waters. These fields are often located several hundred kilometers from land, in water depths in excess of 2,000 meters. The safe and cost-effective transportation of oil and gas in pipelines from deep and ultra-deep water is a growing challenge worldwide.
This paper describe a new DNV GL pipeline concept, called X-Stream, which can significantly reduce the cost of deep- and ultra-deep-water gas pipelines while complying with the strictest safety and integrity regimes. This long distance gas transportation concept can reduce the wall thickness of deep-water gas pipelines by utilizing a unique system to control the differential pressure.
