Energy giant Equinor has today announced that it has agreed a deal with Alcatel Submarine Networks for permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) on Johan Castberg, which will bring in Nexans as subcontractor.
Agreed in a letter of intent, French firm Nexans will provide the subsea cabling for the development, which is expected to require more than 124 miles (200km) of cable.
Both the Johan Castberg and Johan Sverdrup projects will utilise the PRM digital technology developed by Alcatel Submarine Networks.
The fields will share the PRM project management and are the first fields in the world to install this tool before production start.
Knut Gjertsen, Johan Castberg project director, said: “PRM is a central element of the digital strategy for Johan Castberg and will be an important tool in improving the Johan Castberg recovery rate.”
Nexans will manufacture the backbone cable network and inter-station cable at their facilities in Rognan, Norway.
Benedicte Nordang, subsea manager for Johan Castberg, added: “More than 200 kilometres of fibre-optic seismic cables and 3700 sensors will be spread on the seabed at the Johan Castberg field.
“The cables will start sending images before the field starts up in 2022, providing a basis and information about the reservoirs before production start. This will increase the well placement precision and help “control” production and injection.”