Less than a week after its CEO Helge Lund called for the industry to develop a Lego-approach Statoil has announced it is working with DNV GL to introduce an international industry standard for subsea process technology.
Lund was speaking at the ONS 2014 exhibition and conference in Stavanger. He said the industry should develop a Lego-approach, where standard parts are brought together as building blocks for projects.
Read more: Costs high on the agenda
His call addressed industry concern about rising costs, with many looking to standardization, both of components and processes, to try and curb spending.
“During the last 10-12 years, costs related to subsea developments have increased by 250%,” says executive vice president in Technology, Projects & Drilling in Statoil, Margareth Øvrum. “The industry needs to lower costs to enable more subsea developments and increase the use of subsea processing technology."
“Today, subsea developments are characterized by tailor-made solutions. Subsea pumps have been used in many oil fields, and the first subsea compression systems will be installed in 2014 to increase gas production from the Åsgard and Gullfaks fields,” says Statoil.
“By standardizing tie-in technology and module sizes it will be easier to combine different types of technology and modules to adapt developments to project needs.”
Øvrum added: “Think of the modules as Lego bricks. By having standardized module dimensions which may be assembled by means of standard tie-ins, we may combine technology from different suppliers, and also cover several needs through subsea solutions. This will reduce costs and increase volume.”
Today’s announcement sees Statoil enter into an agreement with DNV GL to set up an industrial cooperation to introduce an international industry standard for subsea process technology.
DNV GL will lead a joint industry project (JIP) with key subsea operators to find industrial standards, which will make it more profitable to develop larger projects with subsea processing technology, said Statoil.
The cooperation project should be set up by the end of Q1 2015, Statoil said. The standards to be established should be so-called open standards, meaning that this is technology which all suppliers may use, without special rights.
The announcement follows DNV GL last week launching a new standard for subsea equipment and component certification to make processes simpler and more consistent, for operators and suppliers.
Last week, during ONS, Bjorn Søgård, segment director, for subsea at DNV GL, said: “What is the benefit of discussing standardization materials and components without discussing the processes – procurement and manufacturing and documentation, and this (documentation) has to be presented to the end user, so processes are very important and have to be addressed?”
"It is important not only for Statoil, but for the industry in general, that competition is maintained in the development of the process technology itself, and the input which is made to the modules,” Øvrum added. “By standardizing the tie-ins and the module sizes, it will be possible to make use of the best technology for each individual function, independent of supplier.
"This will lead to more subsea projects being realized, benefitting both operators and suppliers. We will achieve increased recovery as more projects will be profitable to develop. Standard solutions will be easier and safer to handle, which will also reduce maintenance costs."
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