It is day two of the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, and the Reliant Centre complex is absolutely heaving with life.
There is talk of the show smashing through the 100,000 delegates barrier and if that happens, it will be the first OTC since before the mid 1980s oil price crash to have achieved this.
This really is the mother of all upstream oil and gas conventions. If you aspire to be anybody in this industry, especially its supply chain, then OTC is a must attend.
It is, however, striking how few international oil companies (IOCs) have a formal presence here; they have left the field open to National Oil Corporations (NOCs) that include the likes of Petrobras of Brazil , China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Petronas of Malaysia.
Another is Norway’s semi-state-owned company Statoil, which must surely rank as the greatest champion of technology development apart from Petrobras.
Statoil is the company behind the “Subsea Factory” concept, which the company is showcasing here in Houston.
It is about taking oil and gas production to the bottom of the sea in the belief that this approach will ultimately deliver superior recovery rates at a lower cost, at least in terms of energy expended to produce the prize.
The goal is to have the first full-suite subsea factory operational by 2020, subject to the usual caveats. But as far as Statoil is concerned, actual delivery is a case of when, not if.
In essence, the plan is to take all the elements of a traditional platform and locate them downstairs on the seabed.
Some foundations are firmly in place and probably sufficiently proven by this pioneer. For example, Statoil is behind the world’s first complete subsea solution for separation and injection of water and sand … the Tordis project in Norwegian waters.
The company developed the first subsea facility for injection of raw seawater at Tyrihans and the oil-dominated multi-phase transport (pipeline system) for the Snohvit and Tyrihans developments, again offshore Norway.
Speaking at an OTC briefing, Statoil VP Margareth Ovrum said that, by 2015, the company expected to have trail blazing subsea compression systems operational in the Asgard and Gullfaks fields offshore Norway.
These are really important projects and will play a significant role in Statoil’s ambition to boost average oil recovery rates across its domestic portfolio from the current 50% to its 60% target.
Ovrum said that the Asgard prize alone was 250million barrels of oil that might otherwise not be exploitable.
She is certain that compact separation facilities on the seabed will be a key to success in Arctic waters and the deepwater resources of the US Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. In the US Gulf alone, the subsea factory could boost recovery rates by 10-20%. That’s huge.
Global oil company interest is said to be immense. However, with the exception of the supply chain, Statoil is continuing to go it alone, guided by its “technology-focused upstream strategy”.
And OTC is probably the best placed to showcase what is already a huge achievement.
Roll on 2020.
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