Siemens Welcomes New CEO of Compression and Solutions

- Siemens Welcomes New CEO of Compression and Solutions

Friday, August 19, 2011
Siemens

Terrance N. Ivers, 53, new CEO of the Compression and Solutions Business Unit of the Oil & Gas Division effective August 1, 2011, has succeeded Donald Weir, who has decided to leave Siemens. Since 2007 Ivers was the president of Amec Paragon, an international project management company and service provider to the upstream and midstream (especially pipeline) industries.

Ivers is a mechanical engineer and began his career at KBR, a leading international supplier for the oil and gas industry. At KBR he held a number of managerial positions in the fields of pipelines and offshore engineering where he gained outstanding experience in the oil and gas business. From 2004 to 2007, Ivers served as Chief Operating Officer for Alliance Wood Group Engineering.

"We would like to thank Donald Weir for his achievements for our company," said Tom Blades, CEO of the Oil & Gas Division. The Compression and Solutions Business Unit offers products and solutions for the oil and gas market. "With his extensive experience, deep understanding and broad network in the oil and gas industry, Terrance Ivers is the right person to further advance and develop our business," added Blades. Ivers will be based in Houston, Texas, one of the most important centers for the oil and gas sector. Activities in Houston significantly influence both the local U.S. market as well as international business.?

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Statoil Submits Gas Compression Plan to Ramp Asgard Volumes

- Statoil Submits Gas Compression Plan to Ramp Asgard Volumes

Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Statoil

The partners in the Åsgard licenses have submitted a plan for development and operation (PDO) of subsea gas compression to maintain production from the Mikkel and Midgard reservoirs.

Øystein Michelsen, Statoil's executive vice president for Development and Production Norway (DPN), presented the PDO to Ola Borten Moe, Norway's minister for petroleum and energy.

"The decision to improve recovery from Åsgard is one of the most important we are taking this year to sustain output on the Norwegian continental shelf," said Michelsen.

"This solution has been made possible through an innovative partnership on the Åsgard license."

The PDO represents a quantum leap in technological terms, which could contribute to a substantial boost in recovery factor and production life for a number of gas fields.

Subsea compression on Åsgard is expected to improve recovery from the Mikkel and Midgard fields by some 278 million barrels of oil equivalent.

That makes the project one of the most important contributors to new volumes, and provides future opportunities for improved recovery from a number of fields.

Quantum leap

Natural pressure in Midgard and Mikkel will become too low over time to maintain stable flow and a high production profile from the Åsgard B platform in the Norwegian Sea.

To compensate for this decline, Statoil intends to install seabed compressors near the wellheads and so increase the pressure. Wellstreams will be piped in a common line to Åsgard B.

"This represents a quantum leap in subsea technology, and an important step in realizing our vision of a complete underwater plant," said Margareth Øvrum, Statoil's executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling.

"The technology has a substantial potential for improving recovery," she added, and emphasized that it is important for future field development in deep water and Arctic regions.

"Testing and qualifying new solutions is vital to the success of our technological developments," Øvrum noted. "We have already come a long way, but know that the remaining stretch will be a demanding one.

"Developing technology is always challenging, but we have surmounted technological obstacles before and are confident that we will succeed in doing so again on Åsgard together with our partners."

She adds that substantial synergy exists between technological qualification on Åsgard and the work being done by Statoil together with operator Shell on the Ormen Lange gas field.

Åsgard's bright future

Åsgard is a crucial hub on the Halten Bank and a key factor in the Norwegian Sea. Subsea compression from Mikkel and Midgard will safeguard future production from the field, said Michelsen.

Statoil is working continuously on other measures to improve recovery in the same area – including reducing processing pressure, drilling and maintaining wells, and applying innovative solutions.

Åsgard is an important hub in a prospective area, and spare processing capacity which becomes available in its facilities can also be offered to others.

"Our vision is a field which is still producing in 2050 with a recovery factor among the best in the world," said Michelsen.

The subsea compression development will also expand capacity in the Åsgard Transport pipeline, which carries gas from Norwegian Sea installations to the Kårstø plant north of Stavanger.

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Statoil: Subsea Compression Boosts Gas

- Statoil: Subsea Compression Boosts Gas

Friday, June 17, 2011
Statoil

Statoil and its partners want to compress gas on the seabed to boost recovery. Subsea compression was recently selected as the preferred concept for Gullfaks.

"Gas compression on the seabed represents an important advance in technology, and once again, Statoil is leading the way for development of new technology. This is one of our most important measures for improving recovery from existing fields," said Siri Espedal Kindem, Statoil's vice president of technology.

Since 2008, Statoil and its partners have worked with Framo Engineering to develop technology for compressing wet gas on the seabed. Statoil has now decided to take the concept a step further on the Gullfaks South subsea field.

"This could increase production from the field by three billion cubic metres of gas, which means a six percent increase in recovery," said Ivar Aasheim, head of Field Development on the Norwegian shelf.

The current field recovery rate is already 62 percent. The combination of subsea compression and conventional low pressure production in the later phases could lift the recovery rate to 74 percent, thus also increasing the Gullfaks C lifetime.

Why compression?

Natural pressure declines as a field ages. This means that compression is necessary in order to extract more gas, and to get the gas to the platform.

The standard solution is compression on a platform or from land; however, the closer the compression is placed in relation to the well, the more gas can be extracted. That is why Statoil wants to place the compressor near the wells, on the seabed.

Not just Gullfaks

Statoil is currently working on three subsea compression projects in early stages. On the Åsgard field, the selected concept involves a subsea solution that will help increase pressure from the Mikkel and Midgard reservoirs. This could enhance recovery by 28 billion cubic metres of gas and 14 million barrels of condensate.

Together with operating company Shell, we are also working on a similar seabed solution on Ormen Lange.

"And this is just the beginning. Subsea compression can increase recovery on several small and medium-sized fields in the time ahead. Statoil has already identified more candidates," said Siri Espedal Kindem.

Seabed factories

Today, almost 50 percent of Statoil's production comes from a total of 488 subsea wells.

Statoil's expertise in subsea operations is the key to more efficient production and improved recovery.

"In many cases, subsea facilities make it possible to produce oil and gas that would not otherwise have been profitable to recover. This is how we take responsibility for increasing production from the Norwegian shelf," said Aasheim.

Subsea gas compression is another step in the direction of seabed factories, where operations that currently take place on platforms are moved down to the seabed.

"Processing on the seabed, particularly gas compression, is also very important in developing fields in deep water and vulnerable areas. This is an important technological breakthrough," Kindem concludes.

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