Future of Fibre Optics in the oil and gas Industry

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Future of Fibre Optics in the oil and gas
Industry

• Kjetil Johannessen StatoilHydro

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Subsea data managementintegrated fiber optic
subsea system
Riserless light well intervention
Permanent ocean bottom seismic
Monobore drilling
Environmental monitoring
Integrated fiber optic System
Subsea compression and seperation
Integrated subsea control modules
Subsea injection of raw sea water
Downhole monitoring and control
Multi lateral wells
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New generation control system
Traditional control system
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Tradeoffs a different world Exemplified
umbilical vs. telecom cables

• Complex vs. simpler cable connections
• Cost flexibility of installation subsea is the
  determining factor
• Additional cost of crossing a pipeline is roughly
  1 M
• Repair dominated by mobilization of vessel

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Development of new regions

• New regions may offer new options and challenges
• Tieback subsea to beach is a new trend/option
  particularly for gas fields.
• Long tieback can favor alternatives to
  traditional hydraulic systems.
• New opportunities for instrumentation can provide
  much more data during the drilling and workover
  phase or during seismic surveys that can benefit
  from streaming large amounts of high bandwidth
  data back to operations support.
• Umbilicals generally have very long lead time and
  the installation of umbilicals can set a slow
  pace for communication infrastructure in an area
  with limited.
• Particularly if no fixed installation with a
  stable high bandwith communication can be reached
  with a temporal radio link (up to roughly 30 km)
  and in areas with limited satellite coverage the
  value of having the communication infrastructure
  in place early can be substantial.

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Reliability todays situation
Failures in subsea systems
OREDA Database 2002, Statoil ASA
Use fiber to combat the rest !
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Needs for instrumentation and control

• Reliability!!! field proven and systematic
  approach to new unproven devices
• Always fail safe backup (if failure how to
  utilize the well and particularly not causing
  safety hazard or damaging the well)
• Reduced time, complexity and risk during
  installation and completions phase
• Reduce problems at tubing hanger and any
  connector/connection
• Reliable splice and on rig floor adaptations
  (e.g. length of particular zones)
• Many problems have been related to electric power
  supplies, with longer tiebacks problems and
  disadvantages with hydraulics increase.
  Introduction of fiber must reduce overall risk
  (and probably complexity). - Replace not add
  failing components.

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Making the most of a main bore at Troll Oil
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StatoilHydro specific challenges

• More fields in the 125 to 175 C range than most
  other operators.
• New developments heavily dominated by sub-sea
  developments ? ultra deep water.
• Also, high pressure (not necessarily so warm,
  GoM)
• More problems with flow assurance (subsea) than
  average
• Exposed in areas with difficult weather
  (Norwegian sea particularly, but also North
  Atlantic, GoM in hurricane season)
• High cost for development per well -gt maximize
  the use of each well head
• High cost of intervention -gt minimize need for
  intervention and if required allow for light well
  intervention only (ship with wireline, subsidiary
  coiled tubing)

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Building blocks that are not readily available

• Optical and fiber components that have a long
  track record subsea (to validate reliability
  relative to traditional solutions)
• Marinized optical interrogators
• Low loss wet mate connectors and jumpers (also a
  cost issue)
• Optical wellhead penetrations (including multiple
  fiber systems)
• Downhole connection systems for multilateral
  wells in particular
• Reconfiguration of fiber infrastructure without
  the use of ROV (Switches, routing that can be
  deployed and trusted subsea)??
• Sensor needs (not necessarily fiber) local water
  cut and gas fraction, flow through screens,
  sensors probing out of the completions into the
  reservoir
• Integration of fiber with pipelines and infield
  flowlines
• Some of these aspects are addressed by Seafom
  others not