Page 88: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2014)

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Subsea

The new frontier

Stephen Whit? eld takes a look at some of the major on the seabed, near the wellheads. country (OE: August 2013).

development projects now

It’s cheaper and it doesn’t require as

The Åsgard ? eld is located on the utilizing subsea separation much additional manpower as a new

Haltenbank in the Norwegian Sea, about and processing technology to platform. The only problem was that it 125mi off the Norwegian coast and 31mi hadn’t been done before. south of Statoil’s Heidrun ? eld. Petoro increase ? eld life.

owns a majority stake in the ? eld, with a That is where Aker Solutions came 35.69% share, but Statoil is the operator into the picture. In 2010, the company everal companies are looking at of the ? eld. Statoil has a 34.57% share, was awarded a contract to develop a sub- subsea processing and separation Eni Norge has a 14.82% share, Total E&P sea compression system for the Åsgard

S as they try to maximize produc- Norge owns 7.68%, and ExxonMobil ? eld, with a target date of 2015 to have tion out of dif? cult projects. Recently, owns 7.24%. everything up and running. So far, thing developments have sprouted in new According to Statoil, by the end of this appear to be running on schedule: Aker and aging ? elds the world over, from the year pressure in both of Åsgard’s subsea Solutions ? nished the steel frame for the

Gulf of Mexico to the Norwegian coast satellites (Midgard and Mikkel) “will facility in June 2013, and it was installed to West Africa. Here is a look at some become too low to sustain their ability on the seabed within two weeks of its of those developments from three top to produce to the B platform,” leaving delivery. companies. the company in a lurch. Until recently, So how will it work? The contract the typical solution for a problem like Aker Solutions received to develop the

Aker Solutions this was to install gas compressors on compression system for Åsgard called

Within the next 12 months, Norway- an existing surface platform, or build for a gas cooler and a liquid separator in based Aker Solutions expects to have an entirely new manned compression addition to the compressor. According to the world’s ? rst subsea gas compres- platform. Statoil, the electricity used to power the

Statoil has chosen a different sion system up and running in the compressor will come from the Åsgard approach: installing the compressors

Åsgard ? eld of the coast of its home

A oil production ship. A motor in the

May 2014 | OE oedigital.com 90 090_OE0514_Subsea1_Whitfield.indd 90 4/19/14 9:30 AM