Operators Urged To Support New Study To Transform Small Field Production

Crondall Energy, the independent oil and gas consultancy, will urge operators to support a study that aims to transform the recovery of oil and gas from small hydrocarbon fields, when the Technology Forum - 30th Offshore Licensing Round event takes place in Aberdeen tomorrow, Tuesday 22 August.

Crondall Energy’s ‘multi-client’ project aims to further develop their concept for a floating normally unattended installation (NUI). The production buoy has the potential to break new ground in the economic recovery of oil and gas from small pools.

The Technology Forum, which takes place at the AECC, is being jointly hosted by the Oil and Gas Technology Centre and the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) and will focus on how technology can help unlock the future oil and gas developments in the upcoming 30th Offshore Licensing Round.

Duncan Peace, Managing Director of Crondall Energy, said: “This concept could transform the production from small fields and help breathe new life in to regions, such as the North Sea, where production from these challenging pools is currently uneconomic. The floating NUI would provide a mobile and re-deployable installation in water depths beyond the reach of fixed installations.

“We are now looking to identify operators who can work in partnership with us to explore how the industry can widen the scope of what a normally unmanned facility can deliver. It will look at how we can push the envelope of both water depth and oil and gas capacities.”

The floating NUI combines a number of innovative technologies in areas of compact processing equipment, remote control and monitoring of equipment, corrosion-resistant materials in order to provide a compact, low maintenance facility suitable for unmanned operations.

The study will raise awareness of the wider opportunities that might exist for improvements in safety, asset integrity and reductions in both CAPEX and OPEX, if the technologies and design philosophies utilised in the development of the floating NUI, were to be deployed in other facilities on the UKCS.

After completing the study, Crondall Energy expects that sponsors will have the necessary increased confidence in the technology to adopt it as a potential development option in future field development planning with a good understanding of costs.

Crondall Energy is both exhibiting at the show and will also be presenting during the Tie Back of The Future session where they will share the findings of the subsea flowlines study which has identified potential for reducing costs up to 50%.