Abstract
New technologies that contribute to enhanced production in ultralong tiebacks have recently been developed. These new developments include higher differential pressure in multiphase pumps and compressors, mechanical designs for high pressures and temperatures, and power systems suited for ultralong tiebacks.
When developing new, cost-efficient boosting technology for long subsea tiebacks and deep water, a system approach is important. This includes power systems, installation methods, maintenance, reliability, and condition monitoring. The new technologies described have been developed based on operational experience and physical theory combined with practical experiments and validation, both scaled and full size. The importance of developing simple and reliable solutions in facilities that enables comprehensive experimenting and testing is also explained. Today’s oil and gas price level also requires cost-efficient solutions, and the paper explains how this can be obtained through standardization and modularization.
The first pump systems that are able to provide a more-than 200-bar differential pressure are already developed, qualified, and put in operation. A game-changing multiphase gas compressor technology that provides differential pressure up to 55 bar has also been built, tested, and verified. In parallel with these developments, subsea power systems have been further developed so that they can be used for step-outs longer than 200 km. Recently, a multiphase pumping station designed for 2,500-m water depth and 15,000-psi design pressure was installed and set in operation in the Gulf of Mexico. All of this contributes to enhanced production and lower field developments costs in subsea environments and provides a platform for further technology developments that can potentially make extremely remote subsea field developments economically attractive.
This paper presents new technology related to multiphase pumping and compression and a system approach that can make production from remote and deepwater subsea fields more capital efficient.
