Part D | 33
752 Part D Offshore Technologies
gion holds significant volumes of oil and gas; until now
investment in Arctic development and production has
been rather small and most of it has been in areas with
light to moderate ice conditions and relatively shallow
waters, using artificial islands or gravity base structures [33.9].
A number of technology development targets are
being set and will continue to be pursued. Some of these
targets include [33.5, 9, 11, 13, 23, 24]:
Lightweight, strong, and modular jackets, FPSO,
and subsea concepts with storage capabilities for
requisite water depths (varying from 1000 m to
4000 m), and with efficient long-distance tie-backs,
would require more investment in offshore projects.
Multi-phase pumping through pipelines would minimize costs considerably.
Innovative developments in the float-over and selfinstallation of complete topsides of jackets and
FPSOs (and their mooring systems) in a reliable and
optimal manner (to avoid heavy offshore lift, intricate hook-up/commissioning and consequent accidents) is required. Reliable and automatically controlled seabed processing of oil and gas resources,
with minimum intervention from above will make
the operations economically more attractive.
Advances in large-diameter, top-tensioned dryChristmas-tree risers (the connecting valves, spools,
and fittings are located on top of riser arrays), and
arrays with catenary profiles that permit contact,
optimal clashing, flow assurance, and long-term
structural integrity at ultra-deep-water depths are
very important [33.25].
Prevention of the specific risks of a blowout in the
ultra-deep waters by smart down-the-hole remote
monitoring of conductors and risers, and provision
of extra horizontal drilling conductors, that will become operative when reservoir pressures build up.
References
33.1
T. Moan: Marine Structures for the Future – A Sea
of Opportunities (National University of Singapore,
Singapore 2003)
33.2
D.V. Reddy, A.S.J. Swamidas: Essentials of Offshore
Structures – Framed and Gravity Platforms (CRC,
Boca Raton 2014) pp. 1–2
33.3
J. Morelock: Terrigenous Sediments. http://geology.
uprm.edu/Morelock/dpseaterrig.htm (2015)
33.4
G.A. Lock: Technological factors in offshore hydrocarbon exploration, The Future of Offshore
Petroleum. United Nations, Natural Resources and
Energy Division, Ocean Economics and Technology
Branch, Expert Meeting on the Future of Offshore
Petroleum (McGraw-Hill, New York 1981) pp. 87–146
33.5
Offshore Operations Subgroup, Operations and
Environment Task Group: Working Document of the
NPC North American Resource Development Study.
Subsea Drilling, Well Operations and Completions,
Paper No. 2/11, 27–45, available at https://www.
npc.org/Prudent_Development-Topic_Papers/211_Subsea_Drilling-Well_Ops-Completions_Paper.
pdf
33.6
IndexMundi: Oil production country by country. In:
The World Factbook 2013–2014 (Central Intelligence
Agency, Washington 2013), available at http://www.
indexmundi.com/map/?v=88
33.7
A. Nagraj: Top Ten Countries With the World’s
Biggest Reserves, Gulf Business in Home/Energy/
Features/Insights at http://gulfbusiness.com/2013/
04/top-10-countries-with-the-worlds-biggestoilreserves/#.Vi5kb4QnWFI (2013)
33.8
Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
resources/the-world-factbook (2014)
33.9
Eurasia Group: Opportunities and Challenges
for Arctic Oil and Gas Development, http://
www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Artic
%20Report_F2.pdf (Wilson Center, Washington
2013)
33.10 NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery: Types of Offshore Oil
and Gas Structures, http://oceanexplorer.noaa.
gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/
types_600.html (2010)
33.11 P. O’Connor, J. Buckness, M. Lalani: Offshore and
subsea facilities. In: Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Vol. 3, ed. by L.W. Lake (Society of Petroleum
Engineers, Richardson 2014)
33.12 Offshore Structures, Course Material Presented
for OCE 3016 on Introduction to Coastal and
Oceanographic Engineering, available at http://
www.essie.ufl.edu/~sheppard/OCE3016/Offshore
%20Structures.pdf (2015).
33.13 B. Middleditch: Deepwater drilling riser technical
challenges, Technical paper (2H Offshore, Aberdeen
2011) pp. 10–35, http://www.2hoffshore.com
33.14 N. Terdre: Refloating Norway’s Concrete Giants – Is
it practical?, Offshore 71(8), 88–91 (2011)
33.15 H.M. Refat, A.R. El-gamal: Influence of the density
of water on the dynamic behavior of square tension leg platform, Amer. J. Civil Eng. Architecture
2(4), 122–129 (2014)
33.16 American Petroleum Institute: Offshore Access
to Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Unlocking
America’s Offshore Energy Opportunity, available
at
http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gasoverview/exploration-andproduction/offshore/
~/media/Files/Oil-and-Natural-Gas/Offshore/
OffshoreAccess-primer-highres.pdf, p. 15, (2015)
752 Part D Offshore Technologies
gion holds significant volumes of oil and gas; until now
investment in Arctic development and production has
been rather small and most of it has been in areas with
light to moderate ice conditions and relatively shallow
waters, using artificial islands or gravity base structures [33.9].
A number of technology development targets are
being set and will continue to be pursued. Some of these
targets include [33.5, 9, 11, 13, 23, 24]:
Lightweight, strong, and modular jackets, FPSO,
and subsea concepts with storage capabilities for
requisite water depths (varying from 1000 m to
4000 m), and with efficient long-distance tie-backs,
would require more investment in offshore projects.
Multi-phase pumping through pipelines would minimize costs considerably.
Innovative developments in the float-over and selfinstallation of complete topsides of jackets and
FPSOs (and their mooring systems) in a reliable and
optimal manner (to avoid heavy offshore lift, intricate hook-up/commissioning and consequent accidents) is required. Reliable and automatically controlled seabed processing of oil and gas resources,
with minimum intervention from above will make
the operations economically more attractive.
Advances in large-diameter, top-tensioned dryChristmas-tree risers (the connecting valves, spools,
and fittings are located on top of riser arrays), and
arrays with catenary profiles that permit contact,
optimal clashing, flow assurance, and long-term
structural integrity at ultra-deep-water depths are
very important [33.25].
Prevention of the specific risks of a blowout in the
ultra-deep waters by smart down-the-hole remote
monitoring of conductors and risers, and provision
of extra horizontal drilling conductors, that will become operative when reservoir pressures build up.
References
33.1
T. Moan: Marine Structures for the Future – A Sea
of Opportunities (National University of Singapore,
Singapore 2003)
33.2
D.V. Reddy, A.S.J. Swamidas: Essentials of Offshore
Structures – Framed and Gravity Platforms (CRC,
Boca Raton 2014) pp. 1–2
33.3
J. Morelock: Terrigenous Sediments. http://geology.
uprm.edu/Morelock/dpseaterrig.htm (2015)
33.4
G.A. Lock: Technological factors in offshore hydrocarbon exploration, The Future of Offshore
Petroleum. United Nations, Natural Resources and
Energy Division, Ocean Economics and Technology
Branch, Expert Meeting on the Future of Offshore
Petroleum (McGraw-Hill, New York 1981) pp. 87–146
33.5
Offshore Operations Subgroup, Operations and
Environment Task Group: Working Document of the
NPC North American Resource Development Study.
Subsea Drilling, Well Operations and Completions,
Paper No. 2/11, 27–45, available at https://www.
npc.org/Prudent_Development-Topic_Papers/211_Subsea_Drilling-Well_Ops-Completions_Paper.
33.6
IndexMundi: Oil production country by country. In:
The World Factbook 2013–2014 (Central Intelligence
Agency, Washington 2013), available at http://www.
indexmundi.com/map/?v=88
33.7
A. Nagraj: Top Ten Countries With the World’s
Biggest Reserves, Gulf Business in Home/Energy/
Features/Insights at http://gulfbusiness.com/2013/
04/top-10-countries-with-the-worlds-biggestoilreserves/#.Vi5kb4QnWFI (2013)
33.8
Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
resources/the-world-factbook (2014)
33.9
Eurasia Group: Opportunities and Challenges
for Arctic Oil and Gas Development, http://
www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Artic
%20Report_F2.pdf (Wilson Center, Washington
2013)
33.10 NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery: Types of Offshore Oil
and Gas Structures, http://oceanexplorer.noaa.
gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/
types_600.html (2010)
33.11 P. O’Connor, J. Buckness, M. Lalani: Offshore and
subsea facilities. In: Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Vol. 3, ed. by L.W. Lake (Society of Petroleum
Engineers, Richardson 2014)
33.12 Offshore Structures, Course Material Presented
for OCE 3016 on Introduction to Coastal and
Oceanographic Engineering, available at http://
www.essie.ufl.edu/~sheppard/OCE3016/Offshore
%20Structures.pdf (2015).
33.13 B. Middleditch: Deepwater drilling riser technical
challenges, Technical paper (2H Offshore, Aberdeen
2011) pp. 10–35, http://www.2hoffshore.com
33.14 N. Terdre: Refloating Norway’s Concrete Giants – Is
it practical?, Offshore 71(8), 88–91 (2011)
33.15 H.M. Refat, A.R. El-gamal: Influence of the density
of water on the dynamic behavior of square tension leg platform, Amer. J. Civil Eng. Architecture
2(4), 122–129 (2014)
33.16 American Petroleum Institute: Offshore Access
to Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Unlocking
America’s Offshore Energy Opportunity, available
at
http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gasoverview/exploration-andproduction/offshore/
~/media/Files/Oil-and-Natural-Gas/Offshore/
OffshoreAccess-primer-highres.pdf, p. 15, (2015)