Abstract
After years of development, qualification and engineering, Subsea Compression Technology is now a proven solution for increased field recovery for offshore gas developments. The world's first subsea compression system was installed at the Aasgard field in the Norwegian Sea, and started up successfully on the 17th of September 2015. This represents an important milestone for the oil and gas industry, as it not only demonstrates the successful developments of new subsea processing technologies, but also proves itself as a viable alternative field development solution for oil and gas operators.
This paper will briefly review the development timeline of the technology up to the first application project, namely on the Aasgard field in the North Sea, then present the working principle of the subsea compression system. Highlights on the key features of the technologies will be provided, with specific focus on the benefits the technology brings to the market.
In addition, the paper will also describe the ongoing development activities to optimize the subsea compression system, with particular focus on the unit size and weight optimization without requiring any qualification activities of new technologies. This new generation of subsea compression system will extend the applicability of this technology to a much wider range of fields and offshore regions.
