Subsea Processing – The Gamechanger Technology

Aug. 27, 2007 - PRLog -- Operator opinion has evolved over the past three years and now many have firm plans to install, with the prospect of improved recovery and production driving uptake. These are amongst the results of the latest ‘Gamechanger’ study from energy analysts Douglas-Westwood Limited and oil & gas technology specialists OTM Consulting.
A $3.4 Billion Market
Addressing delegates at the Subsea Technology conference in London, Douglas- Westwood’s Oil and Gas Manager Steve Robertson announced the headline results of the study, which considers seabed boosting, separation, multiphase metering and wetgas compression systems. Steve commented, “If operators’ performance expectations are met, then over the next decade expenditure on subsea processing could in our ‘most likely’ scenario amount to over $3.4 billion. A total of 131 seabed boosting applications are expected to account for 54% of this 10-year total, in addition to 28 forecast separation systems, we expect 1,005 multiphase meters and 15 wetgas compressors. Western Europe is expected to be the leading regional market with a mid-range projected Capex of $1.1 billion over the 2001-2015 period, followed by Africa ($788 million), Latin America ($594 million) and North America ($576 million).”
Market Drivers Are Now Focused on Production-Related Factors
George Trowbridge, Senior Consultant at OTM remarked, “With oil prices having risen dramatically the drivers for subsea processing have changed. Whilst in the past, the drivers that have encouraged interest in this area have been evenly spread between certain technical, production and financial factors, production related drivers (increased production rate, increased ultimate recovery, etc.) are now seen as being much more important. “Changes have also been identified in oil companies’ perceptions of the barriers preventing the uptake of subsea processing. Whilst both psychological hurdles (e.g. the naturally risk averse nature of oil companies) and financial hurdles (e.g. capital costs) are still high on the list of barriers to the uptake of subsea processing, there has been a shift in operator opinions so that now equipment reliability and operability is now seen as the highest ranked barrier.
Operators Are Now Moving Ahead With Firm Plans to Deploy
“The changes in the drivers of and barriers to subsea processing are reflected in the forecast uptake of the technology. In our 2000 and 2003 surveys, a number of fields were identified as possible sites for subsea processing, whilst in the latest 2006 survey, several oil companies now have firm plans to use subsea processing, with potential areas of application spanning all the major deepwater regions of the world.”
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Information for Editors
The Subsea Processing Gamechanger Report is the first in a new series of reports that will examine the commercial prospects for technologies that show early potential to make a major impact on industries. The report describes what is driving the interest in subsea processing, the technologies of subsea boosting and separation, control & monitoring and power, installation, intervention and system modularity and case studies. Results of a survey of operators' opinions on subsea processing are reported. Forecasts of the subsea processing market between 2006 and 2015 are presented by component and region: in high, most likely and low oil price scenarios.
The Subsea Processing Gamechanger Report has 140 pages, 102 figures and 30 tables.

For ordering this report kindly visit: http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=5610

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