Subsea processing as a tool for cost reduction of deepwater projects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i1.1493Keywords:
Subsea separation; Investment decision; OPEX; CAPEX; Pre-salt fields.Abstract
In order that the production and profits of petroleum companies do not decline, new oil field need to be discovered and exploited. Many of these new discoveries are offshore deepwater fields. However, the drop in oil prices in the last few years has made this type of exploration, which is already challenging in itself, even more difficult, so that companies are postponing or even canceling several deepwater projects. Innovation, new technologies and new concepts of oil and gas production and processing are necessary to make deepwater projects feasible and increase their competitiveness. The aim of this paper was to analyze the subsea processing of oil production as a strategy to reduce both capital and operating costs to enable remote offshore exploration. In addition, a discussion of the benefits and challenges of this strategy was also presented. It also includes a case study at the Lula field, in Brazilian pre-salt. Results demonstrate that the use of subsea separation has great potential to reduce OPEX and CAPEX on offshore projects. The current case study demonstrates a cost reduction due to the investment in the separators of around US$ 6.1 billion, a reduction about 6 to 12 times in the power needed to lift the production and a reduction of about 5 to 7 times in the expenditures with natural gas as fuel for the evaluated scenarios.
References
Almeida, E. de et al. (2017) Ciclos de Debates sobre Petróleo e Economia: Custos e Competitividade da Atividade de E&P no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: IBP, GEE e UFRJ, 2016. Retrieved May 2018, from https://www.ibp.org.br/eventos/custos-e-competitividade-do-setor-de-petroleo-no-brasil/?_pagina=materiais-para-download.
ANP (2017ª) Boletim da Produção de Petróleo e Gás Natural. n. 78. Retrieved 03 May 2017 from www.anp.gov.br/wwwanp/?dw=81069.
ANP (2017b) Dados de E&P. Retrieved July 2017, from http://www.anp.gov.br/wwwanp/exploracao-e-producao-de-oleo-e-gas/gestao-de-contratos-de-e-p/dados-de-e-p.
ANP (2016) Plano de Desenvolvimento Aprovado: Lula. Retrieved May 2017 from http://www.anp.gov.br/wwwanp/publicacoes/boletins-anp/2395-boletim-mensal-da-producao-de-petroleo-e-gas-natural.
Bai, Y. & Bai, Q. (2010) Subsea Structural Engineering Handbook. Houston: Gulf Professional Publishing, 2010.
Brazilian Central Bank, (2016) Interest rates, Brazilian Central Bank, Review Of COPOM Meetings and Short-Term Interest Rates . Retrieved June 2017 from https://www.bcb.gov.br/Pec/Copom/Ingl/taxaSelic-i.asp.
Ferro, F. & Teixeira, P. (2009) Os Desafios do Pré-Sal. Câmara dos Deputados. Caderno de Altos Estudos, Brasília, ISBN 978-85-7325-607-7.
L.E. et al. (2012) Probabilistic Production Forecasts Using Decline Envelopes. in: SPE Latin America and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, 16-18 April, Mexico City, Mexico.
Centrilift (2014) Centrilift 538FLEXPump80 Pump. Retrieved June 2017, from https://www.bakerhughes.com/products-and-services/production/artificial-lift/electrical-submersible-pumping-systems-esps.
Chrisman, E., et al. (2012) Asphaltenes – Problems and Solutions in E&P of Brazilian Crude Oils. in: Abdel-Raouf, M. E.-S. Crude Oil Emulsions – Composition Stability and Characterization. Ed. Janeza Trdine Rijeka, Croácia: 2012. pp. 12. ISBN 978-953-51-0220-5.
Dalane, K. et al. (2017) Potential applications of membrane separation for subsea natural gas processing: A review. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 39, 101-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2017.01.023.
EIA, jan. (2014) Liquid Fuels and Natural Gas in the Americas. Washington, DC. U.S. Department of Energy. Retrived May 2017, from https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/regions-topics.cfm?RegionTopicID=LFNGA.
EIE, R. (2015) Deepwater Arctic Subsea Separation & Storage Systems. in: OTC Arctic Technology Conference, 23-25 March, Copenhagen, https://doi.org/10.4043/25526-MS.
Euphemio, M. L. et al. (2012) Marlim 3-Phase Subsea Separation System: Project Overview and Execution Strategy. in: Offshore Technology Conference. 30 April-3 May, Houston, Texas, USA, https://doi.org/10.4043/23230-MS.
Schutte, G. R (2012) Pré-Sal: Panorama e oportunidades. ISSN 1415-4765.
Frising, T. et al. (2008) Contribution of the sedimentation and coalescence mechanisms to the separation of concentrated water-in-oil emulsions. Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 29(6), 827–834, 2008. ISSN: 0193-2691 (print)/1532-2351 (online), DOI: 10.1080/01932690701781501.
Frising, T., et al. (2006) The Liquid/Liquid Sedimentation Process: From Droplet Coalescence to Technologically Enhanced Water/Oil Emulsion Gravity Separators: A Review. Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 27, 1035–1057, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01932690600767098.
GE, (2015) LM2500 GAS TURBINE (60Hz) 22-33 MW. Retrieved May 2017 from https://powergen.gepower.com/content/dam/gepower-pgdp/global/en_US/documents/product/gas%20turbines/Fact%20Sheet/LM2500-60Hz-fact-sheet-2016.pdf.
Gomes, F. M. M. R. et al. (2017) Subsea Projects Cost Reduction - Petrobras Approach, Results and Next Steps. In: Offshore Technology Conference, 1-4 may, Houston, Texas, USA. https://doi.org/10.4043/27833-MS.
Grave, E. J.; Olson, M. D. (2015) Woodlands – Texas, Exxon Mobil. Emulsion Extraction and Processing from an oil/Water, B01D 17/04 US 2016/0052799 A 07. Retrieved May 2017 from http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2016/0052799.html
FMC (2007) Subsea separation has environmental benefits. Separation + Filtration. Retrieved May 2017 from www.fmctechnologies.com/subsea.
Gyllenhammar, E. et al. (2017) Combining FPSO and Subsea Processing for Optimized Field Development. in: Offshore Technology Conference, 1-4 May, Houston, Texas, USA, https://doi.org/10.4043/27873-MS.
Haheim, S.; Gaillard, X. (2009) A Simplified Subsea Separation and Pumping System. in: SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 4-7 October, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. https://doi.org/10.2118/124560-MS.
Hendricks, R. et al. (2016) Subsea separation – an undervalued tool for Increased Oil Recovery IOR. in: SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, 25-27 October, Perth, Australia. https://doi.org/10.2118/182454-MS
Hu, X. et al. (2012) Risk Analysis of Oil/Gas Leakage of Subsea Production System Based on Fuzzy Fault Tree. International Journal of Energy Engineering, 2(3), 79–85, ISSN 2225-6571(online).
Khatri, N. L. et al. (2011) Emulsion layer growth in continuous oil-water separation. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 384, 630–642, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2011.05.032 Cited 12 May 2017
Keleşoǧlu, S., et al. (2012) Flow properties of water-in-North Sea heavy crude oil emulsions. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 100,14–23, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2012.11.006.
Kilpatrick, P. K. (2012) Water-in-crude oil emulsion stabilization: Review and unanswered questions. Energy and Fuels, 26(7), 4017–4026. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2012.11.006.
Kondapi, P. B. et al. (2017) How Will Subsea Processing and Pumping Technologies Enable Future Deepwater Field Developments? In: Offshore Technology Conference, 1-4 May, Houston, Texas , USA: https://doi.org/10.4043/27661-MS.
Lavenson, D. M. et al. (2016) Gas evolution rates: A critical uncertainty in challenged gas-liquid separations. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 147, 816-828, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2016.10.005.
Leão, A. P. de et al. (2014) Análise dos Sistemas de Risers Utilizados na Produção de Óleo em Sistemas Submarinos. Caderno de Graduação: ciências exatas e tecnológicas , Aracaju, 2(2), 23–36, 2014. ISSN 1980-1777 (print)/ISSN 2316-3135 (online).
Li, Z. et al. (2014) Subsea Compact Separation : Control System Design. In: Offshore Technology Conference, 5-8 May, Houston, Texas, USA. https://doi.org/10.4043/25299-MS.
Lima, H. (2008) Desafios na exploração de petróleo e gás natural no Brasil. Comissão de Minas e Energia Câmara dos Deputados. Brasília. www.anp.gov.br/wwwanp/?dw=6912. Cited 10 June 2017
Lin, J. et al. (2013) Enhancing the value of offshore developments with flexible subsea tiebacks. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 102, 73–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2013.01.003.
Luna, D. (2011) Campo de Tupi passará a se chamar Lula, informa Petrobras. https://oglobo.globo.com/economia/campo-de-tupi-passara-se-chamar-lula-informa-petrobras-2904276. Cited 03 June 2017.
Maia Filho, D. C. et al. (2012) Aging of water-in-crude oil emulsions: Effect on water content, droplet size distribution, dynamic viscosity and stability. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 396, 208–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2011.12.076.
Matos, A. de; Nascimento, C. M. B. de M. (2011) Alguns aspectos da produção de petróleo. In: RODRIGUEZ, O. M. H. Escoamento Multifásico, 1 v., 1 ed. Rio de Janeiro: ABCM, ISBN 978-85-85769-48-2.
Morais, J. M. de (2013) Petróleo em Águas Profundas: Uma história tecnológica da PETROBRAS na exploração e produção offshore. Brasília: IPEA, pp. 170-171. ISBN: 978-85-7811-159-5.
Noik, C. et al. (2015) Subsea Separation Behavior of a Brazilian Crude Oil: Experiment and Simulation. In: Offshore Technology Conference, 27-29 October, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.4043/26069-MS.
Noïk, C. (2013) Modeling of Liquid/Liquid Phase Separation: Application to Petroleum Emulsions. Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 34, 1029–1042, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2012.735929.
Olson, M. D. et al. (2015) Performance Testing of an Integrated, Subsea Compact Separation System with Electrocoalescence for Deepwater Applications. in: Offshore Technology Conference, 4-7 May, Houston, Texas, USA: https://doi.org/10.4043/25695-MS.
Oji, A.; Opara, C. C. (2012) Electrocoalescence of Field Crude Oil using High voltage Direct Current. International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 4 (5), 1850–1857. Retrieved March 2017 from https://www.idc-online.com/technical_references/pdfs/chemical_engineering/Electrocoalescence%20of%20Field%20Crude%20Oil%20using.pdf.
Orlowski, R. et al. (2012) Marlim 3 Phase Subsea Separation System - Challenges and Solutions for the Subsea Separation Station to Cope with Process Requirements. In: Offshore Technology Conference, 30 April-3 May, Houston, Texas, USA. https://doi.org/10.4043/23552-MS.
Parks, D.; Amin, R. (2012) Novel subsea gas dehydration process, the process plant and dehydration performance. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 81, 94-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2011.12.009.
Petrobras: Campo de Tupi, na Bacia de Santos, é a maior reserva de petróleo e gás do Brasil, 03 fev. 2012. O GLOBO. Retrieved June 2017 from https://oglobo.globo.com/economia/petrobras-campo-de-tupi-na-bacia-de-santos-a-maior-reserva-de-petroleo-gas-do-brasil-4142755.
Petrobras. (2005) Investidores Comunicados e Fatos Relevantes Petrobras. http://www.investidorpetrobras.com.br/pt/comunicados-e-fatos-relevantes/petrobras-vai-afretar-mais-dois-navios-plataforma-na-bacia-de-campos Cited 30 May 2017
Petrobras (2013) TECNOLOGIA PETROBRAS. Retrieved June 2017 from http://www.petrobras.com.br/lumis/portal/file/fileDownload.jsp?fileId=8A8B2D164F32A6C1014FF50A6A817AB9.
Petrobras (2016) Navio-plataforma Cidade de Saquarema, que vai operar no pré-sal, deixa o estaleiro. Retrieved May 2017 from http://www.petrobras.com.br/fatos-e-dados/navio-plataforma-cidade-de-saquarema-que-vai-operar-no-pre-sal-deixa-o-estaleiro.htm.
Petrobras (2017a) Pré-Sal. Retrieved May 2017 from http://www.petrobras.com.br/pt/nossas-atividades/areas-de-atuacao/exploracao-e-producao-de-petroleo-e-gas/pre-sal.
Petrobras (2017b). P-66 deixa estaleiro rumo ao campo de Lula. Retrieved May 2017 from http://www.petrobras.com.br/fatos-e-dados/p-66-deixa-estaleiro-rumo-ao-campo-de-lula.htm.
Petrobras (2017c) Tarifas do Gás Natural. Retrieved May 2017 from, http://www.br.com.br/pc/produtos-e-servicos/gas-natural/tarifas.
Plasencia, J., et al. (2013) Pipe flow of water-in-crude oil emulsions: Effective viscosity, inversion point and droplet size distribution. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 101, 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2012.11.009.
Prescott, C. N. et al. (2016a) Offshore Economic Field Development Concept - Step Change. In: SPE Trinidad and Tobago Section Energy Resources Conference, Society of Petroleum Engineers, 13-15 Jun., Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, https://doi.org/10.2118/180795-MS.
Prescott, N. et al. (2017b) Advances in Subsea Separation and Processing Resulting in Discharge of Produced Water at the Seabed. In: SPE Trinidad and Tobago Section Energy Resources Conference, 2-5 May, Houston, Texas, USA. https://doi.org/10.4043/27136-MS.
Prescott, N. et al. (2016c) Subsea Separation - Advanced Subsea Processing with Linear Pipe Separators. In: Offshore Technology Conference, 13-15 June, Houston, Texas, USA. https://doi.org/10.2118/180796-MS.
Pritchard, P. J., Leylegian, J. C. (2011) Introduction to Fluid Mechanics 8rd edn. John Wiley & Sons INC, Hoboken, NJ. ISBN 13: 9780470547557.
Rodrigues, L. A., Sauer, I. L. (2015) Exploratory assessment of the economic gains of a pre-salt oil field in Brazil. Energy Policy, 87, 486–495, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.09.036.
Seabra, A. A. de et al. (2017) Management of pre-salt oil royalties: Wealth or poverty for Brazilian coastal zones as a result? Resources Policy, 45, 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.03.006.
Silva, R. P. L. da (2015) Sistemas de Separação Submarina como Estratégia para Mitigar Problemas de Garantia de Escoamento. 118 f. Masters Dissertation In Mechanial Engineering - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Mecânica, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.
Sjöblom, J. et al (2014) Preparation and characterization of reference fluid mimicking behavior of North Sea heavy crude oil. Fuel, 135, 308–314. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2014.07.003.
Vedachalam, N. et al. (2015) Review and reliability modeling of maturing subsea hydrocarbon boosting systems. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 25, 284-296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2015.05.006.
Wu X. et al. (2016) Applying Subsea Fluid-Processing Technologies for Deepwater Operations, SPE-Oil and Gas Facilities, 5(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.2118/181749-PA.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
