Page 14 - EurOil Week 31 2021

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bank to sell back the stake to Transgaz “at a nature requires an integrated multi-discipline
predetermined price,” according to the EBRD’s engineering team that understands the critical Neptune installs world’s
note issued at that time. elements of both renewable energy and
In February 2018 Transgaz took over the traditional oil and gas operations in order to longest ETH pipe at Fenja
100% stake put up for sale by Moldova in identify the true challenges and opportunities
Vestmoldtransgaz, at that time operating the associated with large scale electrification of field
gas interconnector with Romania. existing oil and gas assets.
In the meanwhile, it has built the key “This study has the potential to provide Neptune Energy has completed the
connection toward the industrialised area essential input to the wider oil and gas installation and testing of the electrically
around the Moldovan capital Chisinau in a community within the North Sea to enable trace-heated (ETH) subsea production
€90mn project. a significant reduction of carbon emissions pipeline at its Fenja field in the Norwegian sea.
Transgaz started technical tests on the Iasi- from offshore operations.” Said to be the world’s longest, the
Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline in July 2020 Xodus said its analysis has assessed a wide 37-kilometre ETH will transport oil from the
but no significant exports have been carried range of low carbon power sources and the Fenja field to the Njord A platform, operated
out so far. Starting this October, Russian gas extent of electrification on the existing assets by Equinor.
exports to Moldova will use this route as to help inform Harbour Energy’s future plans TechnipFMC’s vessel carried out the
opposed to crossing Ukraine, as was the case to transition to Net-Zero. offshore installation across two subsea
so far. campaigns in 2020 and 2021 approximately
120 kilometres north of Kristiansund at
a water depth of about 320 metres. The
Harbour Energy hires Subsea 7 installs pipelines company also fabricated and assembled the
at CNOOC’s Buzzard field
ETH pipe.
Xodus for offshore platform Offshore installation company Subsea 7 testing of the ETH pipe is a great technical
“Completing the installation and
electrification support said on July 30 that July 2021 marked the achievement and a major step forward in
the development of the Fenja field”, said Erik
successful installation of a 5km pipeline
North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour bundle for China-based CNOOC’s Buzzard Oppedal, Neptune’s director of Projects and
Energy has tapped consultancy Xodus to Phase II (BPII) project in the UK North Sea, Engineering in Norway.
assess the infrastructure and modifications moving the project a step forward towards “The ETH pipe-in-pipe solution is
required to enable electrification of the oil and the final commissioning and start-up of crucial for extracting the oil and is a
gas company’s Central North Sea platforms. production this year. creative, cost-effective approach that
The move comes following the successful “Subsea 7’s 88th Pipeline Bundle in 40 permitted us to tie the field back to existing
delivery of a power optimization study years is now in the Buzzard field ready to infrastructure”.
examining the opportunities available to link the new northern area wells back to the Due to the high wax content of the
rationalize the generation systems on the existing platform.,” the company said. Fenja field’s oil, the contents of the pipeline
Everest and Lomond assets. The assets are Subsea 7 was awarded the contract in 2018 must be warmed to a temperature above 28
operated by Harbour Energy, which was for the project management, engineering, degrees Celsius before starting the flow after
created recently through a merger between procurement, construction, and installation a scheduled shutdown or interruption.
Chrysaor and Premier Oil. of the bundle, along with associated well and During normal production, the
Implementing electrification on offshore platform tie-ins for the project in the North temperature in the pipeline would be well
assets can reduce operational expenditure, Sea’s Outer Moray Firth, east of Scotland. above this temperature, Neptune explained.
increase uptime across all assets and minimize “Bundle technology is an ideal fit for this Ståle Ryggvik, TechnipFMC’s project
carbon emissions to the atmosphere, Xodus project. It provides all subsea production, director, said: “The successful completion
said. water injection, and gas lift flowlines, as well of the Fenja ETH pipe-in-pipe installation
Xodus has cited the Oil & Gas Authority’s as control functions and end manifolds in has been made possible through our unique
UKCS Energy Integration Report from a single integrated system, which is fully iEPCI project capabilities, close collaboration
2020, which calculated that electrification fabricated and tested onshore. The BPII with Neptune Energy, and by leveraging
could abate UKCS oil and gas operational Bundle system also incorporates a large drill TechnipFMC’s extensive experience in the
emissions by 2-3MtCO2 p.a. by 2030, which center manifold (36m long and 300 tonnes), technology”.
is the equivalent of reducing 20% of today’s allowing for up to 12 wells to be tied-in,” Fenja is Neptune’s first operated
production emissions, rising to 40% by Subsea 7 said. development project on the Norwegian Shelf
2030. The report also found that platform The complete 5,500-tonne system was and is estimated to contain 97 million boe.
electrification could extend the operating life hauled 150 kilometers from Subsea 7’s Wester Neptune kicked off its Fenja drilling
of existing assets and achieve cost efficiencies manufacturing site near Wick, Scotland to campaign following the spud of the first
in the development of new oil and gas fields. the Buzzard offshore field, using a specialized well in April 2020. In September 2020, the
Everest Platform - Credit: Harbour Energy mid-depth towing method company started drilling the Bue well on
“Xodus performed an in-depth, integrated “This is the latest in a series of major the field. Bue is, along with Pil, one of the
subsea and topsides study to assess the scope achievements for the project which is being discoveries on the Fenja field.
and scale of the project required to electrify delivered using an innovative Alliance model,” According to the company’s project
the assets. The company also analyzed the Subsea 7 said. update, drilling of the Fenja production
operational savings that could be realized in Last month saw the installation of the new wells is scheduled to begin in the fourth
terms of fuel usage and maintenance burden topside module, with Subsea 7 working with quarter of 2021, by the Deepsea Yantai
across all assets from now until the cessation Allseas and fellow Alliance members CNOOC drilling rig.
of production,” Xodus said. International and Worley. .
James McAreavey, Concept Development
Manager at Xodus said: “A study of this

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