Statoil starts subsea gas compression in North Sea

Statoil partners with Petoro and OMV to start the world´s first wet gas compression on the seabed of the North Sea Gullfaks field.​

The unique technology will increase recovery by 22 million barrels of oil equivalent (oe) and extend plateau production by around two years from the Gullfaks South Brent reservoir.

“We are very proud that we have been able to complete such a demanding pioneering project with start-up ahead of the original plan,” says Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects & Drilling (TPD).

“Subsea processing and gas compression represent the next generation oil and gas recovery, taking us a big step forward,” she says.

Statoil is the first company to apply subsea gas compression. In mid-September Statoil also started Åsgard subsea gas compression.

The two projects are the first of their kind worldwide, and represent two different technologies for maintaining production when the reservoir pressure drops after a certain time.

Subsea compression has stronger impact than conventional platform-based compression. It is furthermore an advantage that the platform avoids increased weight and the extra space needed on the platform for a compression module.

Subsea compression is an important technological leap to further develop the concept of a subsea factory.

The advantage of a wet gas compressor is that it does not require gas and liquid separation before compression, thereby simplifying the system considerably and requiring smaller modules and a simpler structure on the seabed.

“The Gullfaks wet gas compressor is a unique, compact and cost-effective solution. The concept may be standardised by applying well-known technology components,” says Øvrum.