The subject for discussion in this paper is the marine operations as they were performed during the research project:
The project commenced in January, 1981, with participation of six oil companies: AGIP, Chevron, Fina, Hispanoil, Norsk Hydro, and Total.
A single-well Subsea Production System (SPS) was installed in 300m of water depth for test purposes in the Onarheimsfjord on the west coast of Norway in the autumn of 1982. Two different ways of connecting flowlines to the SPS were tested; a remote off-bottom pull-in operation featuring the "J"-method.
All operations were performed diverless, a remotely operated observation vehicle (ROV) and an Atmospheric Diving Suit (ADS) beingused for general assistance and back-up.
In order to optimise the operations, extensive analyses had been performed on the equipment and on the operational plan. These analyses included a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) on equipment and operations in general as well as computer simulations of the flow line operations.
The objective of the test was to gain experience related to operations in deep water, state limitations in today's level of technology.
The paper gives a review of the test and planning phase. The problems related to deep waters are pin-pointed, and some results are given.
