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BY WILLIAM STOICHEVSKI or years, “maintenance and modi? - ? eld canon, but knowing the strictures is a cations” were catchwords for near- basis for future earnings. Some know them ly everything that wasn’t green? eld well, and today, large supplier-contractors

F activity offshore. Two economic known for their engineering procurement, slowdowns later, subsea “M&M” might be construction and installation (EPCI) have seen as inspection, maintenance and repair recently taken shares in specialist subsea (IMR), a segment that includes light well companies or formed joint ventures to do intervention, well monitoring and a range more of the inspection work today’s robotic of subsea work offered as “life-of-? eld” and tech makes possible and today’s rules make life-extending. Now, new transatlantic rules potentially lucrative.

and best practices offer paths to future IMR An example of this is Subsea 7’s inspec- earnings for operators and suppliers. tion brand, i-Tech, now doing what the

When the DNV GL call for company calls IRM (IMR) work. Febru- well data went out to Norwe- ary 2019 saw BP Exploration award them

ROV Surveys: gian operators and oil ministry a contract for “construction, inspection, a TechnipFMC managers about a decade ago, repair and maintenance” for all BP assets

ROV during few would have imagined that in the North Sea West of Shetlands and in launch it might one day help spawn the northern North Sea. iTech Services is new business streams. Back slated to provide the operator with a life-of- then, a DNV GL well integrity ? eld work vessel, Solstad’s Normand Sub- researcher seemed but a sign that Class was sea, with “work class and observation class branching out into offshore structures, both ROVs capable of inspection, survey, inter- surface and subsea. vention” and light, subsea construction and

Fast-forward about 15 years to 2019, and two moonpools. the new US Bureau of Safety and Environ-

IMR GROUPING mental Enforcement (BSEE) has put out a similar call for well data. In the past year, While the award was a contract exten-

BSEE has followed that up with revised sion, 2018 was the year of IMR for Sub- rules for well design, well control, casing, sea 7. November saw Shell UK Ltd. join a cementing, real-time monitoring, asset in- seven-operator frame agreement that will tegrity and subsea containment. There’s see Subsea 7 provide IMR, construction and even a new BSEE rule for 2019 governing decommissioning services as part of its div- ? eld Life Cycle Management, 1st Edition. ing support vessel initiative.

Among the new rules is a requirement In May 2018, Norwegian operator Equi- that an offshore facility have its own oce- nor had also agreed to take a life-of-? eld anic monitoring in real-time, and the use support vessel, Seven Viking, from Subsea of a remotely operated underwater vehicle 7 to go with IMR performed by ROV, al- (ROV) or autonomous underwater vehicle though the vessel also does light construc- (AUV) is recommended. Asset integrity for tion, as in module and tree installs managed standing structures, subsea structures and from i-Tech Services in Aberdeen. “The wellheads has been codi? ed into life-of- award of this long-term [IMR] contract ac-

March/April 2019 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 29 18-31 OE 2019.indd 29 4/15/2019 10:47:11 AM