After three years of contending with formidable market conditions, upstream companies have begun the arduous task of getting back to what they do best: finding and producing oil and gas. While the offshore sector certainly felt the impact of the price crash, it did not leave it comatose. One need only look at the last months of 2017 to see the promise of 2018.
Take, for example, new discoveries announced off the coasts of Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Russia and Trinidad, which show that exploration is not dead. A flurry of field development proposals were submitted to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for consideration. The seven plans submitted to the NPD represent a total value of more than $12.5 billion in greenfield capex, according to a report from Rystad Energy.
In December 2017 a 46,000-tonne floating vertical hull received its topsides crown to become the world’s largest spar FPSO unit. That spar will be located in the Aasta Hansteen gas field located in the deep waters of the Norwegian Continental Shelf about 300 km (186 miles) from Bodø.
Subsea will play a significant role in the success in these future or current fields. Like all in the industry, subsea players face a new future where lessons learned from previous projects and standardization are helping to ensure long-term growth.
This month E&P takes a step back to the basics with a look at how operators are identifying the best locations to place subsea equipment during the field development phase. Other stories include a dive into the considerations made during the design and selection process of subsea production systems. Also covered is a new digital platform that integrates robotics, artificial intelligence and original predictive analytics to advance subsea inspection services. The section wraps up with an overview of how operators are bringing together current infrastructure with future subsea projects.
Read each of E&P magazine's February cover stories:
Back to basics on seabed surveys
Optimizing system design and field architecture
Recommended Reading
Sangomar FPSO Arrives Offshore Senegal
2024-02-13 - Woodside’s Sangomar Field on track to start production in mid-2024.
E&P Highlights: Feb. 16, 2024
2024-02-19 - From the mobile offshore production unit arriving at the Nong Yao Field offshore Thailand to approval for the Castorone vessel to resume operations, below is a compilation of the latest headlines in the E&P space.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Offshore Africa
2024-04-02 - Offshore Africa, new projects are progressing, with a number of high-reserve offshore developments being planned in countries not typically known for deepwater activity, such as Phase 2 of the Baleine project on the Ivory Coast.
TotalEnergies Starts Production at Akpo West Offshore Nigeria
2024-02-07 - Subsea tieback expected to add 14,000 bbl/d of condensate by mid-year, and up to 4 MMcm/d of gas by 2028.
Remotely Controlled Well Completion Carried Out at SNEPCo’s Bonga Field
2024-02-27 - Optime Subsea, which supplied the operation’s remotely operated controls system, says its technology reduces equipment from transportation lists and reduces operation time.