The Arctic is one of the few areas remaining with large finds to be made. In order to operate and develop fields in the Arctic, new technologies are needed and are being developed, from ice-management systems to innovations in drilling.
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| The Tordis subsea development. Credit: FMC Kongsberg - Statoil ASA |
The Arctic is one of the few areas remaining with large finds to be made. According to the US Geological Survey, the region contains 22% of the world’s remaining hydrocarbon resources.
In order to operate and develop fields in the Arctic, new technologies are needed and are being developed, from ice-management systems to innovations in drilling.
Research currently varies from work on subsurface tunnels, from which drilling could be carried out, to emergency response and rescue operations.
Much of the technology required to develop these fields, and satellites, already exists, the SPE Arctic & Extreme Environments conference and exhibition in Moscow heard this October.
Technology exists
Mitch Winkler, manager, Arctic, Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. said all of the building blocks are in place for subsea production technology to be used. Others agree.
“By 2007 we had subsea templates for Ormen Lange and Snøhvit and subsea processing at Tordis [Norwegian North Sea],” said John Milne, director of exploration, Russia, Statoil ASA. “By 2009 we were looking at being able to inject water in to fields [at Tyrihans, in the Norwegian Sea]. Now we are working on subsea compression at Åsgard [Norwegian Sea] (OE: August and June 2013). Next is a planned 150km step out in Snøhvit phase II [Norwegian Sea], and beyond that further step-outs in the Arctic.”
Other technology already in use includes Technip’s electrically trace-heated pipe, which reduces the requirement to have a conventional loop for pigging, lowering the total flowline length, and lowering the power generation requirement topside, said Geir Utskot, Arctic manager, Schlumberger.
But, Winkler said, there will be work needed to make it suitable for use in the Arctic, such as making suitable lubricants. “A lot of these systems will be operating at temperatures below freezing. We need lubricants that can function in these environments.”
Research continues
Indeed, Statoil is still ramping up investment. “We have tripled our 2012-2013 research budget, as we try to investigate various technologies we see as important, such as drill ships that can work year-round on a standalone basis,” Milne said. “Also seismic in ice, different kinds of development concepts, both floating and fixed, and technology to make operations more environmentally friendly in the Arctic.”
Statoil said it is involved in a number of joint industry projects (JIPs), specifically around emergency evacuation response and recovery (EER).
Øyvin Halle, platform manager, Statoil, and currently working in Moscow on the Statoil-Rosneft joint venture, said JIPs included research into: totally enclosed motor propelled survival craft and liferaft towing and recovery; personnel transfer; ice-strengthening and testing lifeboats; an Arctic multipurpose vehicle capable of launching on ice and from heights; hovercraft for EER; oil spill response; and logistics.
In terms of exploration hardware, ExxonMobil and Rosneft, who are working together on a project to explore the Kara Sea, are looking at designs for a re-floatable gravity-based exploration rig. Utskot said: “This would have a big impact. If you can go from drilling in a 3-4 month summer campaign to eight months, you are going to get better economies of scale.”
ExxonMobil and Rosneft have asked Vostochniy Offshore Structures Construction Yard (Vostco) to conduct a concept evaluation and feasibility study for a new exploration unit able to operate safely in Arctic waters up to 60m deep, using a gravity base structure.
Norway’s Kvaerner is involved in the project, which would be used in the shallow waters of East Prinovozemelsky, in license blocks 1, 2 and 3, covering 126,000 sq km, in 20-200m deep water.
Other new technologies being developed, and mentioned in Moscow, range from seabed-based drilling robots, tunnel-to-oilfield concepts, and airships for logistics.
Seabed Rig, a Norwegian technology company recently renamed Robotic Drilling Systems, has developed a seabed-based rig for drilling. It would be controlled via an umbilical to a vessel on the surface, which would mitigate tough ice-conditions and the DP requirements needed in 200-400m water depth.
Robotic Drilling Systems said the system could be incorporated with its submerged encapsulated and pressure compensated Seabed Rig for exploration drilling in harsh areas such as arctic or ultra-deep waters.
Badger Explorer has developed a concept which could be used to drill pilot wells, via an umbilical (OE: April 2013), reducing drilling time.
North Energy has developed the so-called Eureka tunnel-to-oilfield concept, which could be attractive for areas like to Lofoten Islands, where rigs are not likely to be welcome due to the fishing activity.
The Eureka concept consists of subsea tunnels that lead to caverns where a drilling rig can be placed and wells drilled to one or more fields. Production can then be piped back to an onshore facility via separate tunnels.
An airship design capable of carrying loads greater than 40-tonne has been developed, which could ease logistics, Utskot said.
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| Mitch Winkler, manager, Arctic, Shell International E&P Inc. |
Shell’s Mitch Winkler said a key focus should be on drilling. “When you look at the short open water season, we need to be more efficient at how we go about these activities,” he said. “How do we get more wells down in a season and not double the amount of equipment we have? The constraint is money, which is intensified in Arctic due to the conditions you are operating under.”
He said safety of operations can be aided by having additional monitoring – staff onshore watching the drilling parameters providing additional pairs of eyes, having dual shear rams for redundancy, having a mud-line cellar (12m deep and 6m in diameter) to place the well head beneath possible ice-scouring levels, while making sure it has a remote panel that can be accessed by ROV in case the surface controls malfunction.
There are also pan-industry initiatives to increase safety and improve or strengthen oil spill preparedness.
The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) is coordinating the Arctic Oil Spill Response Technology JIP.
Officially launched in January 2012, at the Arctic Frontiers Conference in Tromsø, Norway, the JIP is scheduled to run through 2015. It has six technical working groups (TWG) each focusing on a different key area of oil spill response: dispersants; environmental effects; trajectory modeling; remote sensing; mechanical recovery and in-situ burning. There is also a field research TWG.
The OGP has also updated its guidelines in a consolidated Arctic Environment Good Practice Guide (Arctic GPG or the Guide), first issued in for onshore Arctic operations in 1993, and then for offshore in 2002.
It was prepared by the OGP Arctic Environment
Task Force, a group of member-company experts formed at the request of the Environmental Committee of the OGP in 2009, and combines the two earlier OGP guidance documents and updating the content.
Work is also being done to raise the overall operating standards in Arctic waters. An outcome of the Barents 2020 project, completed early in 2013, is work by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to introduce standardization in ice-management, escape evacuation and environmental monitoring, “codifying the capability to increase over all standards from which we are operating,” said Winkler.
However, of the technologies discussed, few related to the inevitable decommissioning challenge.
John Campbell of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) told SPE Arctic and Extreme that operators should be mindful of what will happen at the end of Arctic field lives.
“Don’t forget decommissioning,” he said. “At some stage it will be required. There should be planning for this right at the beginning.”
See also: Subsea production challenges in Russia: http://oedigital.com/component/k2/item/4221-subsea-production-for-arctic
Arctic exploration challenges: http://oedigital.com/component/k2/item/4204-arctic-exploration-challenges
Russia launches subsea production: http://oedigital.com/component/k2/item/4292-russia-launches-subsea-production
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