Technology Focus: Offshore Facilities (September 2021)

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (09) ◽  
pp. 50-50
Author(s):  
Ardian Nengkoda

For this feature, I have had the pleasure of reviewing 122 papers submitted to SPE in the field of offshore facilities over the past year. Brent crude oil price finally has reached $75/bbl at the time of writing. So far, this oil price is the highest since before the COVID-19 pandemic, which is a good sign that demand is picking up. Oil and gas offshore projects also seem to be picking up; most offshore greenfield projects are dictated by economics and the price of oil. As predicted by some analysts, global oil consumption will continue to increase as the world’s economy recovers from the pandemic. A new trend has arisen, however, where, in addition to traditional economic screening, oil and gas investors look to environment, social, and governance considerations to value the prospects of a project and minimize financial risk from environmental and social issues. The oil price being around $75/bbl has not necessarily led to more-attractive offshore exploration and production (E&P) projects, even though the typical offshore breakeven price is in the range of $40–55/bbl. We must acknowledge the energy transition, while also acknowledging that oil and natural gas will continue to be essential to meeting the world’s energy needs for many years. At least five European oil and gas E&P companies have announced net-zero 2050 ambitions so far. According to Rystad Energy, continuous major investments in E&P still are needed to meet growing global oil and gas demand. For the past 2 years, the global investment in E&P project spending is limited to $200 billion, including offshore, so a situation might arise with reserve replacement becoming challenging while demand accelerates rapidly. Because of well productivity, operability challenges, and uncertainty, however, opening the choke valve or pipeline tap is not as easy as the public thinks, especially on aging facilities. On another note, the technology landscape is moving to emerging areas such as net-zero; decarbonization; carbon capture, use, and storage; renewables; hydrogen; novel geothermal solutions; and a circular carbon economy. Historically, however, the Offshore Technology Conference began proactively discussing renewables technology—such as wave, tidal, ocean thermal, and solar—in 1980. The remaining question, then, is how to balance the lack of capital expenditure spending during the pandemic and, to some extent, what the role of offshore is in the energy transition. Maximizing offshore oil and gas recovery is not enough anymore. In the short term, engaging the low-carbon energy transition as early as possible and leading efforts in decarbonization will become a strategic move. Leveraging our expertise in offshore infrastructure, supply chains, sea transportation, storage, and oil and gas market development to support low-carbon energy deployment in the energy transition will become vital. We have plenty of technical knowledge and skill to offer for offshore wind projects, for instance. The Hywind wind farm offshore Scotland is one example of a project that is using the same spar technology as typical offshore oil and gas infrastructure. Innovation, optimization, effective use of capital and operational expenditures, more-affordable offshore technology, and excellent project management, no doubt, also will become a new normal offshore. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 202911 - Harnessing Benefits of Integrated Asset Modeling for Bottleneck Management of Large Offshore Facilities in the Matured Giant Oil Field by Yukito Nomura, ADNOC, et al. OTC 30970 - Optimizing Deepwater Rig Operations With Advanced Remotely Operated Vehicle Technology by Bernard McCoy Jr., TechnipFMC, et al. OTC 31089 - From Basic Engineering to Ramp-Up: The New Successful Execution Approach for Commissioning in Brazil by Paulino Bruno Santos, Petrobras, et al.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamah Alsayegh

Abstract This paper examines the energy transition consequences on the oil and gas energy system chain as it propagates from net importing through the transit to the net exporting countries (or regions). The fundamental energy system security concerns of importing, transit, and exporting regions are analyzed under the low carbon energy transition dynamics. The analysis is evidence-based on diversification of energy sources, energy supply and demand evolution, and energy demand management development. The analysis results imply that the energy system is going through technological and logistical reallocation of primary energy. The manifestation of such reallocation includes an increase in electrification, the rise of energy carrier options, and clean technologies. Under healthy and normal global economic growth, the reallocation mentioned above would have a mild effect on curbing the oil and gas primary energy demands growth. A case study concerning electric vehicles, which is part of the energy transition aspect, is presented to assess its impact on the energy system, precisely on the fossil fuel demand. Results show that electric vehicles are indirectly fueled, mainly from fossil-fired power stations through electric grids. Moreover, oil byproducts use in the electric vehicle industry confirms the reallocation of the energy system components' roles. The paper's contribution to the literature is the portrayal of the energy system security state under the low carbon energy transition. The significance of this representation is to shed light on the concerns of the net exporting, transit, and net importing regions under such evolution. Subsequently, it facilitates the development of measures toward mitigating world tensions and conflicts, enhancing the global socio-economic wellbeing, and preventing corruption.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (05) ◽  
pp. 52-53
Author(s):  
Judy Feder

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of paper OTC 30794, “Digitalization Deployed: Lessons Learned From Early Adopters,” by John Nixon, Siemens, prepared for the 2020 Offshore Technology Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Houston, 4–7 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2020 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. With full-scale digital transformation of oil and gas an inevitability, the industry can benefit by examining the strategies of industries such as automotive, manufacturing, marine, and aerospace that have been early adopters. This paper discusses how digital technologies are being applied in other verticals and how they can be leveraged to optimize life-cycle performance, drive down costs, and decouple market volatility from profitability for offshore oil and gas facilities. Barriers to Digital Adoption Despite the recent dramatic growth in use of digital tools to harness the power of data, the industry as a whole has remained conservative in its pace of digital adoption. Most organizations continue to leverage technology in disaggregated fashion. This has resulted in an operating environment in which companies can capture incremental inefficiencies and cost savings on a local level but have been largely unable to cause any discernible effect on operating or business models. Although the recent market downturn constrained capital budgets significantly, an ingrained risk-averse culture is also to blame. Other often-cited reasons for the industry’s reluctance to digitally transform include cost of downtime, cyber-security and data privacy, and limited human capital. A single offshore oil and gas facility failure or plant trip can result in millions of dollars in production losses. Therefore, any solution that has the potential to affect a process or its safety negatively must be proved before being implemented. Throughout its history, the industry has taken a conservative approach when adopting new technologies, even those designed to prevent unplanned downtime. Although many current technologies promise increases of 1 to 2% in production efficiency, these gains become insignificant in the offshore industry if risk exists that deployment of the technology could in any way disrupt operations. Cybersecurity and data privacy are perhaps the most-significant concerns related to adoption of digital solutions by the industry, and they are well-founded. Much of today’s offshore infrastructure was not designed with connectivity or the Internet of Things in mind. Digital capabilities have simply been bolted on. In a recent survey of oil and gas executives, more than 60% of respondents said their organization’s industrial control systems’ protection and security were inadequate, and over two-thirds said they had experienced at least one cybersecurity attack in the previous year. Given this reality, it is no surprise that offshore operators have been reluctant to connect their critical assets. They are also cautious about sharing performance data with vendors and suppliers. This lack of collaboration and connectivity has inevitably slowed the pace of digital transformation, the extent to which it can be leveraged, and the value it can generate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astley Hastings ◽  
Pete Smith

The challenge facing society in the 21st century is to improve the quality of life for all citizens in an egalitarian way, providing sufficient food, shelter, energy, and other resources for a healthy meaningful life, while at the same time decarbonizing anthropogenic activity to provide a safe global climate, limiting temperature rise to well-below 2°C with the aim of limiting the temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C. To do this, the world must achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Currently spreading wealth and health across the globe is dependent on growing the GDP of all countries, driven by the use of energy, which until recently has mostly been derived from fossil fuel. Recently, some countries have decoupled their GDP growth and greenhouse gas emissions through a rapid increase in low carbon energy generation. Considering the current level of energy consumption and projected implementation rates of low carbon energy production, a considerable quantity of fossil fuels is projected to be used to fill the gap, and to avoid emissions of GHG and close the gap between the 1.5°C carbon budget and projected emissions, carbon capture and storage (CCS) on an industrial scale will be required. In addition, the IPCC estimate that large-scale GHG removal from the atmosphere is required to limit warming to below 2°C using technologies such as Bioenergy CCS and direct carbon capture with CCS to achieve climate safety. In this paper, we estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that will have to be captured and stored, the storage volume, technology, and infrastructure required to achieve the energy consumption projections with net zero GHG emissions by 2050. We conclude that the oil and gas production industry alone has the geological and engineering expertise and global reach to find the geological storage structures and build the facilities, pipelines, and wells required. Here, we consider why and how oil and gas companies will need to morph from hydrocarbon production enterprises into net zero emission energy and carbon dioxide storage enterprises, decommission facilities only after CCS, and thus be economically sustainable businesses in the long term, by diversifying in and developing this new industry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (05) ◽  
pp. 10-11
Author(s):  
Graeme Gordon ◽  
Craig Shanaghey

As we continue to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of our fast-moving world, we see a sizable and growing prize for those who are willing to work and think differently, challenge traditional approaches, forge new working relationships, and act boldly. This topic is one of the ten keynote program sessions at the 2021 SPE Offshore Europe (https://www.offshore-europe.co.uk/) to be held 7–10 September in Aberdeen to drive disruptive and forward-thinking conversations around the conference theme “Oil & Gas: Working Together for a Net-Zero Future.” Since 2019 SPE Offshore Europe, we have witnessed significant change, even before we consider the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Societal interest in the climate and energy has rightly risen up the agenda, and the scale of expectation and pace of change demanded of our industry is high. The need to accelerate the energy transition by investing in cleaner, low-carbon energy production is clear. But oil and gas will remain critical as major contributors to the energy mix for decades to come, and so responsible hydrocarbon production has a crucial role to play in the transition, underlined by the recently published UK Government North Sea Transition Deal. So how can we be braver, bolder, and better—as individuals, as companies, and as an industry—to grasp that opportunity for change and do something positive with it? We hear a lot about collaboration and its necessity, yet Oil & Gas UK’s (OGUK) 2020 collaboration survey indicates that perhaps, despite the best of intent, it is not universally translating into practice. The term collaboration has somewhat lost its true meaning, perhaps through overuse and a shortage of genuinely collaborative partnerships to inspire us. We can all tend to use the term loosely, forgetting that true collaboration can generate incredibly far-reaching and tangible value. We simply must put this right if our industry is to turn the challenge of the energy transition into an opportunity to thrive. Partnering To Empower the Energy Transition The first critical step to achieve greater collaboration is to acknowledge and accept that no individual, no organization, has all the answers. Never has this been truer than now—as we seek to effect one of the greatest changes our industry has ever faced and are duty-bound to find new solutions at pace and scale. Rather than feeling we must each be the sole creator of our own solutions, organizations need to be better at articulating their problem and even better at inviting others to participate in the solution. We will not solve tomorrow’s problems with yesterday’s ideas—we must cultivate innovation and disruption in the way that we engage with one another and in the way that we work together. A real blocker in realizing that mind-set shift is often in the letter of our contracts. We feel so bound by the formal confines of our relationships with one another that we become unable or unwilling to explore new thinking, to be receptive to new ideas, and to create the space for the disruption that we so need. We must recognize trust as a key attribute of successful, collaborative partnerships.


1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
John Woodliffe

AbstractFor the past 10 years or more, governments of European states have sought to lay the scientific, legal and political groundwork for an agreed normative framework intended to govern decommissioning of deep-water offshore installations, many of which will shortly reach the end of their working life. The Brent Spar episode abruptly shattered any illusion of consensus on decommissioning issues. This article traces the main stages in the development of the current legal regime, including the recent overhaul and rebuilding of regional and international agreements. It examines the implications of the assertion of interest by the European Union in this area and also documents the outcome of the Brent Spar saga. The article concludes with an assessment of the OSPAR Decision of 23 July 1998, which appears to provide the long sought for international agreement.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther A Newcombe

Abstract The ORION (Opportunity Renewables Integration Offshore Networks) project was launched in April 2020 when Shetland Island Council (SIC) and the OGTC formed a strategic partnership to work on an energy hub concept with Highland & Islands Enterprise (HIE), government and industry. Strathclyde University joined in May 2021 as a strategic partner. Shetland has all the critical ingredients of clean energy provision There is significant onshore and offshore wind and tidal resource; strategically important hydrocarbon resource; established oil and gas infrastructure; and a knowledgeable and skilled local workforce. The aim of ORION is threefold:- To enable offshore oil and gas sector transition to net zero by electrification, utilising initially onshore and then offshore wind, sustaining thousands of jobs and security of supply.To transform Shetland's current dependency on fossil fuels to affordable renewable energy to address fuel poverty and improve community wealth.To create a green hydrogen export business on Shetland at industrial scale by harnessing offshore wind power and creating new jobs. ORION has set several ambitious targets by 2050. These include abating 8mT/year of CO2 from offshore oil and gas production; supplying 32TWh of low carbon hydrogen annually - 12% of UK expected requirement; and generating more than 3GW of wind. The annual revenue generated by the project by 2050 would be around £5Bn per annum and provide sustainable employment, both locally and regionally, for 1750 people. Techno-economic screening is currently underway, and several individual opportunities are undergoing concept and feasibility analysis. The ORION project is transformational, on both a local and regional scale, positioning Shetland as one of the first green energy islands in the UK.


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