DeepStar Technology Advancement Related to Floating Systems and Operations Impact

Abstract

DeepStar® is an operator funded offshore Technology Development consortium which provides an open collaboration environment between oil & gas (O&G) companies, vendors, regulators and academic/research institutes which started in 1991. This program has been on the forefront offshore knowledge and technology development within the oil and gas industry, with a focus on issues related to continuous operations, flow assurance and industry standards. The program has progressed in the industry, the understanding and mitigation techniques pertaining to hydrate blockage and with the advancement of modeling software, preventative measurements, and chemical treatment has allowed the industry to move from hydrate avoidance to a hydrate management strategy. The program continues to advance the hydrate blockage remediation tools available to the industry by providing an update to modeling software related to multi salt reservoir hydrate modeling or proposing deployable hydrate blockage remediation tools in case of a prolonged shutdown. Under the lower for longer oil price environment, a quest for a step change cost reduction solution is an active discussion amongst the industry, highlighted above being able to reduce downtime due to flow assurance issues is one important topic, although as asset age another topic of continued service become an ever-evolving topic. DeepStar has worked extensively on this topic for many years advancing the industry dialogue and assisting with updated industry standard related to integrity management related to floating systems, mooring lines, and risers. Highlighted within this discussion is the industry project on Riser Integrity Management reviewing the industry program framework and future riser database that is being developed. For most facilities the riser component is the most expensive portion of floating production systems and once the riser is retired the facility is decommissioned.