Investment Analysis for Deepwater Oil and Gas Field Developments

The effective stewardship of capital is cardinal to ensure economic return to compensate shareholders for capital invested at risk. This paper outlines how investment analysis can be used to improve the decision-making process of deepwater oil and gas field developments. The paper focuses on the key drivers and boundary conditions that impact the economics of the entire field life cycle. It also highlights the relationships between these key drivers and the selection of the layout and main subsystems of the field architecture. A typical deepwater field scenario is used to illustrate the methodology of investment analysis and associated simulations that reflect the uncertainties along the stages of the decision process. Sensitivity analysis is utilized to identify how much each uncertain driver contributes to the uncertainty in the project economic outcome.