Deepwater Field Development and Concept Selection
Figure 1: The Importance of Deepwater Production in the Global Energy Equation
100 200 300 400 500 600 700
0 1980 Oil Gas Hydro, geo
100 120
20 40 60 80
0 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
100 120
20 40 60 80
0 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Source: ExxonMobile (top), Douglas-Westwood (middle, bottom).
to be managed include execution risk, safety and operational risk, technology risk and reservoir risk.
Selecting Platform Functions
The platform is the vehicle that supports production functions. These functional requirements play an important role in platform selection as they dictate the form (or type) of platform. The choice between a dry tree and a wet tree platform is a trade-off between direct access to the well bore for enhanced reservoir surveillance, more frequent well intervention and higher well recovery (dry tree) versus greater flexibility for seabed well placement that maximises overall recovery (wet tree). The decision often hinges on the lower operating expense
46 2010 2012 2014
Another major functional decision is whether or not to have a drilling rig on the platform. Reservoir size and well count for directly accessible wells drive this decision.
A decision subset is whether to drill via a surface or subsea blow-out preventer (BOP) stack. The cost and complexity of incorporating a drill rig on the platform has to be traded off against the cost and availability of drilling and completing wells using mobile offshore drilling units (MODUS).
Maximising reservoir recovery is key to the commercial viability of a development. Recovery is also enhanced by introducing pressure maintenance equipment on the platform (water or gas injection; subsea or downhole boosting). This equipment is heavy and expensive
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION – VOLUME 8 ISSUE 2 Deepwater production 2023 2005 Coal Nuclear Wind, solar, biofuels Technical feasibility >2002
52 countries past peak
By 2008
66 countries past peak
Offshore shallow Offshore deep
Commercial metric Local content Figure 4: Available Floating Platform Types Operator strategies Risk management Market conditions Biomass 2030 Figure 3: Major Platform Selection Drivers
Figure 2: Field Development Planning Process Discovery
Acquire Explore Appraise Creating value: selecting the ‘right’ project Good definition Value
Information gathering to reduce reservoir uncertainties
Poor definition Select
Sanction Define
First oil Execute Operate
Value realisation: doing the project ‘right’
Good execution Poor execution Good execution Poor execution
Onshore
Clockwise from top left: Semo, FPSO, Spar, TLP.
of a dry tree well system versus the higher expense of a wet tree system, as well as ultimate recovery over field life.
Million barrels per day
Million barrels per day
Quadrillion BTUs
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