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Tieback technology reaches new depths

Article by John Bradbury
April 1, 2003

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After Canyon Express set the high water mark for the deepest subsea tieback in the US Gulf, the
challenge for operators and contractors is to push the performance envelope.

Subsea tieback technology took big strides with Canyon Express. Now, several international
projects are lining up to stretch subsurface boundaries still further.

Shell's Mensa development, according to the US Minerals Management Service, is the longest
subsea tieback in the world at 62 miles (99.2 km) from wellhead to host platform. Canyon
Express is the deepest and one of the longest, but for how long?

Although most subsea wells are within 10 miles (16 km) of a host platform, future projects will
take tieback technology even further.

Statoil's Snøhvit (Snow White) project in the Barents Sea off northern Norway, due onstream
late 2006, involves a tieback distance of 100 miles (160 km) from the field location via a single
27-in. multiphase pipeline to shore. Norsk Hydro's Ormen Lange gas field, due onstream in
2007, will again test offshore abilities with a step-out from the beach of around 125 miles (200
km) according to one Norwegian technology source. This may involve artificial boosting in 10
years or more to ensure continued flow from the wells.

BG's West Delta Deep Marine concession developments in the Nile delta offshore Egypt,
comprising the Scarab, Saffron, and later, the Simian and Sienna fields, are set to continue the
emphasis on long tiebacks with a 56-mile (90-km) stretch from shore to subsea wells to exploit
big, deep gas fields.
Cost is both a barrier and an incentive in this equation. Developing the necessary technology is
expensive, but the market for it is huge. One estimate by Quest Offshore suggests between 2003
and 2008, the subsea hardware market, including Christmas trees, controls and umbilicals, will
be worth
US $12.3 billion.

Split regionally, those figures work out at roughly $2.5 billion each for North America, the North
Sea and Brazil. Asia Pacific is a much smaller segment, but the bulk of the tieback market will
be made offshoreWest Africa.

Operated by TotalFinaElf, Canyon Express sets the benchmark by which other projects will be
judged in the US Gulf; it holds the world's water depth production record from 7,210 ft (2,198
m), beating Brazil's Roncador at 5,576 ft (1,700 m). It is the first time that production from
multiple fields has been commingled in a single flow line, and the first time subsea multiphase
meters were used to determine production from individual wells.

Canyon Express links three deepwater

gas fields, owned by three different companies, via a multiphase pipeline to a shallowwater
platform, Canyon Station. Williams Field Services is the operator for Canyon Station, located in
Main Pass Block 261 in a water depth of 299 ft (91 m). It cameonstream in September 2002 with
the third longest gas-gathering system in the world at 57 miles (92 km).

Apart from the commercial arrangements that made Canyon Express possible, a dual pipeline has
been used with multiphase metering for well output, avoiding the cost of separate export
pipelines for each field.

Stuart Nelson, engineering manager for TotalFinaElf on Canyon Express, described the project
as, "The next phase in development of deepwater production."

Canyon Express comprises development of Aconcagua, operated by TotalFinaElf, Camden Hills,

operated by Marathon and King's Peak, operated by BP.

John Stearns, project manager for Intec Engineering, which provided front-end engineering and
design and major engineering input for Canyon Express, said the project, "showcases the
cooperative effort of several operators who recognize the value of working together to develop
deepwater marginal fields."
Most of the subsea issues were outsourced to Intec, responsible for flow assurance, system
engineering, subsea equipment specification and flow-line design and routing for the 32-
section Canyon Express pipeline. This features a "daisy-chain" design with two 12-in. flow
lines stretching 114 miles (182 km) to the Canyon Station host facility. Saibos installed this
pipeline - the deepest in the US Gulf at a record depth of 7,209 ft (2,197 m) - under a $30
million contract. Kværner supplied 62 miles (100 km) of production control and steel-tube
electro-hydraulic umbilicals under a $28 million deal, setting a record for deepest
installation of steel tube umbilicals in the process.

Within the subsea scope, well tie-in jumpers, controls and umbilicals and multiphase
flowmeters formed major elements of the spread. Steel catenary risers were used to connect
to the shallowwater host platform, while an intervention and workover system also had to
be designed. Intec provided technical support, subsea equipment testing services, plus
contract bid preparation and review for TotalFinaElf.
After Canyon Express came onstream this past October, Stearns suggested that in the
future, marginal gas fields in ultradeep water will require the same kind of cooperative
thinking between field partners, contractors and regulators.

Singling out the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) for its willingness to consider co-
mingling fluids from several different fields, he also said industry confidence had increased in
the reliability and accuracy of gas measurement equipment, which contributed to project viability
because it eliminated the need for three separate metering systems.

Tieback growth

Within the past decade, industry ability to push the step-out envelope has increased
tremendously.
By 2004, a total of 61 production facilities are due for installation in the deepwaterGulf of
Mexico. Deep water is defined by the MMS as anything beyond 1,000 ft (305 m) water depth.
The vast majority (38) of these production facilities will be covered by subsea systems.

For the record, the next biggest category is tension leg platform developments, of which, 11 are
planned by 2004.

Compliant towers and spars account for three developments each, and seven are due to be
covered by fixed platforms. However there is no recognition of any planned floating production
systems as of yet.
MMS also put together data on the numbers of subsea tiebacks and water depth. Far more are for
gas developments rather than oil. But the more interesting point is that there has been a steep
upward trend in the use of subsea tiebacks. Between 1955 and 1990, there were less than four
subsea completions per year in the US Gulf. But after the start of the 1990s, this number
boomed, reflecting technological development. By 1995, there were more than 10 tiebacks per
year for oil and gas, mainly in deepwater. By 2001, the numbers climbed to 14 deepwater subsea
completions per year.

It is interesting to note the gradual extension of subsea tieback range. There are 66 tiebacks less
than 5 miles to a host, 35 between 5 and 10 miles, 28 in the 10- to 20-mile category, just five
between 20 and 30 miles, four between 30 and 50 miles and two (Canyon Express and Mensa)
beyond 50 miles.
Looking at the water depth of tiebacks, the MMS notes an overall numerical growth, but the
number diminishes as the water depth increases.

Looking at the statistics for pipelines also shows the trend toward more subsea tiebacks in the
Gulf at greater depths. In 1990, there were 26 miles (41.6 km) of pipeline up to 12 in. in
diameter. In 2001, the figure leapt to 196 miles (313 km) of oil pipelines and 397 miles (635 km)
of gas pipelines, a total of 593 miles (948 km).

For approved pipelines more than 12 in. in diameter, the story is of a similar significant rise over
the decade. In 1990, there were no pipelines of this diameter approved in the US Gulf. In 1991,
the total was 50 miles (80 km). In 2001, numbers leapt to 42 miles (67.2 km) of oil and 76 miles
(121.6 km) of gas lines, a total of 118 miles (189 km). With the growth of pipeline infrastructure,
more reserves are within reach of an export route.

The 2002 Deepwater Frontier report by the MMS notes the "significant growth" in
implementation of subsea production systems. Until 1988, the deepest subsea completion was in
350 ft (106 m) of water, but then the record jumped to 2,2,43 ft (683 m) with a development in
Green Canyon 75. The year 1996 saw another record with Shell's Mars field subsea completion
in a depth of 2,966 ft (904 m), followed by Mensa in 1997 at depth of 5,295 ft (1,614 m).

Barriers

For Nils Arne Soelvik, subsea processing sales manager for ABB Houston, the barriers to subsea
tiebacks at greater water depths revolve around operation of the pipelines and the associated flow
assurance issues raised by hydrates, scaling and slugging. "In the event of a planned or
unplanned shutdown in production, it is both costly and difficult to stay out of the hydrate
formation region as the temperature sinks to ambient (often 4°C)," Soelvik said. He said it is not
possible to relieve pipeline pressure at greater depth with the same ease and flexibility. "The riser
column creates high pressure at the seabed in a non-flowing situation and causes the wellstream
to move into the hydrate region as the temperature drops in significantly less time. Installing
adequate pipeline insulation is not cost beneficial, while requirements for round-trip pigging,
necessitating dual pipelines adds to cost."

Soelvik said some of the long tiebacks found today are gas fields, such as Corrib and Snøhvit
(both are being equipped by ABB), where flow assurance issues are significantly less compared
with oil fields.
"One of the main challenges has been communication to a remote location for control of the
subsea equipment, such as XTs, [Christmas trees] manifolds, etc," Soelvik said.

More economic building blocks are now available for handling long tiebacks. Circulating "black
oil," minus wax and water, is one solution. Another is to provide insulation for pipeline and
jumpers. "This will buy time, but does not solve the problem," Soelvik said. Some operators
have opted for heated pipeline using hot water or electricity during production stops.

Electrical technology has seen ABB provide megawatt subsea electrical power down to a depth
of 6,000 ft (1,839 m), feeding electric heating to a conductive pipe to melt hydrate plugs.

Soelvik sees another barrier in the

weight of systems and their installation since very few contractors can install 400- to 500-tonne
equipment packages down to 6,560 ft (2,000 m), and the solution is in compact systems. "This
can either be achieved with cyclones or by improving gravity separation performance," Soelvik
said. ABB is focusing on the latter.
"The primary barriers to subsea tiebacks in ultradeep water are drilling technology, flow
assurance, riser technology, mooring technology, the impact of deepwater currents, qualification
of new products for deepwater/ HPHT environments, product reliability and the high cost of new
construction and intervention work," said an FMC spokesman.

OveJahnsen, senior technical adviser at Kværner Oilfield Products, agrees that flow assurance is
among the technical barriers to greater step-outs, but said loss of energy in pipelines, risers and
low reservoir pressure resulting in a lack of drive, add to the burden. Large hydrostatic pressure,
generated by depth, plus higher installation costs in deepwater add to the equation, too, Jahnsen
suggests.

Solutions

Finding solutions to these barriers, and extending the water depth limit, relies on the continual
technical development. "The maximum water depth for subsea well completions has doubled
every 3 to 5 years over the past two decades," said FMC. "Technology developments are a
combination of evolution and revolution. Evolutionary changes such as making equipment larger
and stronger to withstand the higher pressures, and greater loads associated with deepwater,
carried the industry from shallow water into deeper water. Technology advances in materials,
flow assurance and innovative installation and intervention methods have enabled further
progress into deepwater. Revolutionary changes, such as dual gradient drilling, composite
materials and subsea processing will be required to continue expanding into the 8,000- to 12,000-
ft (2,440- to 3,658-m) water depths."

In January of this year, FMC Technologies sealed its success in the subsea field when it was
selected by Australia's Woodside Energy as its preferred supplier of subsea production
equipment, a first for that region of the world. That deal covers subsea systems, wellheads, trees
control, manifolds, plus flow line tie-ins and intervention systems. Initially, the deal is for all of
Woodside's future subsea oil and gas projects, domestically and possibly worldwide. Peter
Kinnear, vice president of FMC Energy Systems, said it formalized an existing deal with
Woodside. But it also denotes a desire on the part
of operators to have a permanent relationship with subsea suppliers.

Subsea processing can help solve step-out challenges, said Jahnsen. He also suggests heated flow
lines and integrated production umbilicals, combined with traditional chemical injection systems,
can push out the tieback distance. "Energy loss can be helped with artificial lift, like subsea
boosting alone or in combination with subsea processing," Jahnsen said. "Larger hydrostatic
pressure is a design and qualification issue on pressure-containing components. We have
qualified most of our equipment for 6,560 ft to 9,840 ft (2,000 m to 3,000 m).

"Installation of subsea equipment in larger water depths has to be done without guidewire and
hence under less control. This has to be taken into consideration in the design phase [of a
project]. Particularly installation of flow lines and umbilicals at larger water depths are high risk
due to the high weight. Proper design and procedure will have to be followed."

Distance

The maximum step-out distance is a function of reservoir temperature, pressure, water content
and the type of oil in the reservoir when you are not doing hydrate mitigation, Soelvik said.
Subsea separation and heating close to the wellhead mitigate hydrate formation. "The maximum
limit for subsea separation is in the range of 87.5 miles (140 km). The limiting factor is transfer
of power to a multiphase booster pump or water-injection pump."

Soelvik said the barriers to transferring power over long distance are:
• reactive loss/low impedance meaning you lose power on the way;
• harmonic distortion;
• resonance/reflective wave; and
• variable power loss.

The solution, Soelvik said, is to transfer power at higher currents, requiring transformers and
high voltage connectors, which can distribute subsea power through variable speed drives
(frequency converters).
Soelvik's company already has a frequency converter for up to 3.5 MVA per consumer, which
covers requirements for most multiphase booster and water injection pumps. These are tested and
qualified to 6,560 ft (2,000 m).

Also, ABB is developing wet-mateable connectors for high voltage transfers up to 36 kV. A
field-proven version of a 12-kV system already is operating within a subsea separation system
delivered to Norsk Hydro's Troll C development in the North Sea. The same company also
supplied subsea transformers used by ExxonMobil's Topacio project, which uses two units, and
another two are on the Amerada Hess-Ceiba project in Equatorial Guinea. This same project also
uses a topsides version of ABB's electrostatic coalescer.

Further research entails development of electrostatic coalescers within separators to improve

gravity separation to reduce retention time and thereby the volume of liquid retained. Using this
technology, water content in oil is cut from a typical 10% from a first stage separator to 0.5% to
2%, reducing the risk of hydrates dramatically.

Separately, Italian-based GE Oil and Gas collaborated with Kværner Eureka on another subsea
technology, the Blue-C centrifugal compressor.

This design, with 2.5 MW of power, was launched at the Offshore Northern Seas conference in
2002 and was backed by Norway's Demo 2000 technology development program. After
completing prototype testing, GE and Kværner Eureka have plans to install the unit on a platform
for pre-qualification testing. The companies next intend to submerge it to 1,000 ft (300 m) on a
gas field for further tests. Feasibility work has been carried out with several operators for
potential gas-boosting and re-injection duties in the North Sea.

Blue-C is intended to provide economically recoverable gas from deepwater fields, and can
handle gas pressure up to 130 bar; it will be able to export gas between 50 and 62.5 miles (80
and 100 km) either to a host platform or onshore terminal. GE is looking at a possible installation
 of this unit on Norsk Hydro's Troll C platform in 2005.

Industry work is under way to extend the step-out envelope from 15 miles for oil wells and up to
60 miles for gas wells. "Longer tieback distances of up to 30 miles for oil wells and 120 miles
for gas wells are being studied," FMC said.

To provide longer step-outs, FMC said part of the answer lies in using high-integrity pipeline
protection systems to cut costs of long offset, high-pressure flow lines and risers.

There is consensus among contractors for the need to provide electrically heated flow lines to
prevent hydrate formation. Subsea booster pumps and processing systems are also seen as part of
the tool kit to reduce flow-assurance risk and to improve project economics. Subsea chemical
distribution for corrosion and hydrate-inhibiting fluids is part of the answer, as well as service
buoys to cut umbilical costs. Subsea pig launchers on pipelines could avoid round trip pigging
and dual flow lines, while there is also a need to further develop high power electrical
distribution systems, one contractor said.

On the surface, heave-compensated lifting equipment for heavy payloads, which can eliminate
rigs or heavy lift vessels, could bring down the deep sea cost equation, too, cutting intervention
expense.
Deployment of fiber-optic control systems can improve the response time for data acquisition
from long offset wells, while light well intervention capability for subsea wells could bring down
the maintenance cost curve.

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