OneSubsea to provide subsea compression system for Ormen Lange Field

OneSubsea, a Schlumberger company, has signed a frame agreement with Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary Norske Shell for an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract pertaining to the Ormen Lange Field in the Norwegian Sea.

The contract is for the delivery of a subsea multiphase compression system for the Ormen Lange gas field, located 75 miles off the coast of Norway. The Ormen Lange Field has been in production since 2007.

OneSubsea is the subsea technologies, production and processing systems business of Schlumberger.

Through the EPCI contract, OneSubsea and its Subsea Integration Alliance partner Subsea7 will be responsible for supplying and installation of a subsea multiphase compression system that will utilize subsea multiphase compression technology.

Facilities of the Ormen Lange Field. Photo courtesy of Norsk Hydro ASA/Wikipedia.org.

In the first phase of the project, OneSubsea will carry out the engineering and design of the complete system. Once the final investment decision on the project is taken by the license group, the complete scope of the EPCI will be undertaken.

The compression system will be powered and controlled from the onshore Nyhamna gas processing plant, which is located 120 km from the subsea location. It will be installed at 850 meters of water depth and will feature a couple of 16MW subsea compression stations tied into existing manifolds and pipelines.

The multiphase compression system is designed to be surge tolerant, does not need wellstream preprocessing, and is said to be adaptable to the changing conditions over the life of the Ormen Lange Field.

Commenting on the Ormen Lange Field contract, Don Sweet – president of OneSubsea, said: “Our subsea multiphase compression system is a robust, compact and cost-efficient solution that will help Shell unlock the full potential of the Ormen Lange Field. Our unique wet gas compression technology can also help customers lower their carbon footprint.”

According to OneSubsea, its multiphase compression technology provides a simpler, more affordable, and easier-to-install subsea compression system. By reducing backpressure on the reservoir, the multiphase compression technology enables customers to boost recovery and prolong the life of their gas developments, said OneSubsea.