A new study led by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate will look into the benefits and disadvantages of wellhead platforms in a bid to push industry to consider alternatives to subsea tie-backs.
The idea is one Norway's Statoil has been considering for sometime, last year awarding Kvaerner a concept study for a standardized, unmanned, try tree wellhead platform for the Oseberg Future Development project. The idea had been raised before that, at the 2014 Underwater Technology Conference in Bergen, against a backdrop of rising costs in the subsea segment.
"The main argument in favor of unmanned wellhead platforms as a concept, is that this could be an efficient development solution in terms of both cost and production. In fact, it is just as functional and robust as a subsea development, and it is also more accessible for inspection and maintenance," says Niels Erik Hald, principal engineer in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
An unmanned wellhead platform is a facility with a fixed substructure installed on the seabed, with dry wellheads located on the platform deck. The concept is an alternative to subsea wells where the wellheads are placed on the seabed. There are various types of unmanned wellhead platforms – from simple facilities to more advanced solutions including e.g. process equipment. Some can be entered from vessels, while others have bridges or helicopter decks.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has commissioned a study with the objective of gaining further knowledge about the different types of unmanned wellhead platforms. The plan is for the study, to be performed by Rambøll Oil & Gas, to be submitted to the authorities towards the end of December of this year.
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