AKER Solutions has secured an important contract to supply heating systems to the subsea pipelines infrastructure of the Eni-operated Goliat field in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea.
Contract value is around $13.12million and covers the installation of a pipeline direct electrical heating (DEH) system. This is intended to help avoid hydrates and wax formation in the network of lines that will transport produced oil from the field’s subsea manifolds to the Goliat production facility.
Heating the pipeline network should prevent it from becoming blocked due to hydrate formation during shutdown periods, thereby minimizing the use of chemicals and optimizing the shutdown periods.
Tove Roskaft, senior VP of umbilical technology at Aker Solutions, said of the challenge: “The simplified explanation is that we are attaching cables to the subsea pipelines.
“The oil from the wells may freeze and create a plug in the pipeline if the production stops.
“The current from the cables heats the pipelines and the oil content so that it remains viscous until production can start again.
“We have developed this system based on our market-leading subsea umbilical technology, with support from oil companies who want this product.
“The combination of deeper waters, longer transportation distances, and more complex reservoir conditions will drive the need for flow assurance technologies like our DEH-system.”
Aker Solutions has previously successfully installed its DEH-system on a development offshore West Africa.
The DEH cables for Goliat will be assembled at Aker Solutions cable and umbilical facility in Moss, Norway. Final deliveries are scheduled for Q2 2013.
Eni operates the Goliat field with 65% interest in partnership with Statoil, which holds the remaining 35%.
In Asia-Pacific, the Norwegian group has also signed a subsea contract with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to supply a subsea production system for the Yacheng 13-4 gasfield.
It is the first subsea production system contract Aker Solutions has signed with CNOOC, and marks the company’s entry into China’s subsea market. The value of the deal is around $20million.
The Yacheng field is located in the northern part of the South China Sea, some 72km south-west of Sanya City, Hainan Province.
The scope of work under the contract covers engineering, manufacturing, and delivery of three subsea wellhead systems, three gas-producing subsea trees, control systems, subsea distribution system, and installation support services. Deliveries are expected to begin during Q3 2011.
At the contract signing in China, Dave Hutchinson, president, Subsea Asia Pacific at Solutions, said: “We are thankful to CNOOC for giving us the opportunity to prove our subsea capabilities, and are thrilled to be delivering in a country with high ambitions for increased energy production in the years to come.
“With more than two decades of industrial experience in this field, we can assure CNOOC that their project will be in highly capable hands.”
The project will be delivered out of Aker Solutions high-tech subsea manufacturing centre in Port Klang, Malaysia, which the company claims is the only facility in the world where a complete subsea production system can be manufactured at one location.