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Experience From Field Life Extension
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2014
Year
Quality Of LifeEngineeringPetroleum Production EngineeringEducationOffshore TechnologyMarine EngineeringField DevelopmentExperience DesignSubsea SystemPetroleum ProductionSystems EngineeringOffshore PlatformOffshore IndustryCommunity EngagementLate Life InvestmentUser ExperienceSubsea SeparationEngineering DesignPerformance StudiesConstruction ManagementSubsea EngineeringLived ExperienceTechnologyConstruction Engineering
Abstract As the offshore industry is maturing we see an increased ability to find and produce more oil from established fields and their surrounding areas. The challenge for the operator and the suppliers is to find ways of safely and economically extracting this upside. The purpose of this paper is to share the experience gained while working on these challenges and to summarise the main challenges with respect to cost, technical and safety, and to provide an overview of our experience from extending the life of the existing subsea equipment beyond the original design brief. This includes obsolescence, changing operating condition, availability of documentation and risk mitigating actions such as condition monitoring. The paper also discusses the technical innovations that allow us to solve or bypass the limitations of the existing facilities, including subsea separation and boosting as well as condition and performance monitoring. The paper also touches on the economics of late life investment for extending the field life and comments on the diminishing returns the longer the investment is delayed.