Statoil to ship first Asgard subsea compression component to site

Corrections were made to this article on June 14.

Statoil ASA will have the first piece of subsea compression equipment to be used in developing the Asgard natural gas basin off Norway leave port for the site on June 17, with the manifold module following shortly thereafter. Other modules will move to site next year, in time for a first-quarter 2015 startup.

Aker Solutions, which developed the subsea compression system being installed, says Technip has established methods for winter installation in high seas, helping keep the project schedule intact. Beyond using subsea compression at Asgard and other deepwater fields, Aker sees the technology as potentially useful in developing Arctic resources, where having compression on the surface might also prove problematic.

Aker said it expects the next major subsea gas compression project to go live will be Ormen Lange natural gas-condensate field offshore Norway. A successful subsea compression pilot system is already operating at Ormen Lange. Aker also views the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the central West African coast, and offshore Australia as suitable regions for the technology.

At Asgard, the subsea compressions will help avert falling production, which Roger Harvik, Aker controls manager for the Asgard subsea compression project, said would potentially become unstable in 2016. Statoil expects the project to add 280 million boe/d from the Mikkel and Midgard fields.

Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].