Subsea Processing presents significant potential for cost savings by moving some of the traditional topsides fluid processing to the seabed. Subsea separation and local re-injection of produced water and/or gas to the reservoir or to a dedicated disposal zone will allow flowlines and topside processing equipment to be used more efficiently. Subsea gas/liquid separation and liquid boosting can increase the production rate in low-energy reservoirs.

The main features of Subsea Processing:

• Subsea bulk water removal, with re-injection or disposal
• Subsea single-phase or multi-phase boosting of well fluids
• Subsea sand and solids separation and sand handling system
• Subsea gas/liquid separation and liquid boosting
• Subsea gas treatment  Subsea gas compression
• Monitoring-, control- and instrumented safety systems

The FMC Technologies concept of Subsea Processing is a modularized system based on widely used subsea production technology, providing:

• Robust and reliable subsea solutions
• Fully modular architecture – retrievable units
• Flexibility over life of the field
• Stepwise installation and cost exposure
• Installation and intervention similar to a conventional subsea production system
• Utilization of existing tie-in and connection tools and components for optimum and cost efficient operations

Primary drivers for subsea processing include:

• Accelerated and/or increased recovery
• Development of challenging subsea fields
• Flow management and flow assurance
• Low quality assets with low Gas Oil Ratio (GOR), high viscosity and low permeability can be rendered commercial
• Reduced CAPEX on topside processing equipment and pipelines
• Flexibility of infrastructure for all phases of field life

For maturing fields a subsea processing station can contribute to increased earnings, production and recovery, improving and prolonging the use of existing infrastructure. Separation and re-injection of bulkwater will free up space in fl owlines and risers and eliminate the need for topside equipment upgrades. For new fi eld developments it can enable cost-effi cient and environmentally friendly platform-less solutions, where the field is tied back directly to an existing offshore facility or directly to shore.

FMC Technologies is currently supplying subsea processing equipment to several other projects worldwide, proving that the technology is maturing rapidly. The “easy oil” in mature regions has already been developed. Less accessible oil in mature, new and future offshore regions and fields at greater depths and with a longer step-out will lead to more subsea processing in the coming years.