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In this article we try to discuss subsea completion and production system.

There are many different types of platforms for offshore drilling activities, from
shallow-water steel jackets and jackup barges , to floating Semi-submersibles and
drillships able to operate in very deep waters. The shift to subsea production
systems represents a significant departure from conventional operations.(3)


Subsea completions can be traced back to 1943 with the Lake Erie completion at a
35-ft water depth. The well had land-type christmas trees that required diver
intervention for installation, maintenance, and flow line connections.

Shell completed its first subsea well in the Gulf of Mexico in 1961.1




   
Completion is doing a series of process like installing different equipments such
as wellhead, chrismas tree, tubing , packers, safety valves and carrying out
process like fracturing, perforating and acidizing.

In our definition we assume well completion as a process to make well ready for
production, so it is mainly related to after drilling jobs, we don͛t include
cementing a casing part of well completion. there would be an emphasis on
different subsea production systems and specific equipments needed.

Subsea oil field developments are usually split into c

 and 


categories to distinguish between the different facilities and approaches will be
applied.(1)

Usualy shallow water depths wells use bottom-founded facilities like jackup
drilling rigs and fixed offshore structures. 

 well is located in water
depths greater than around 600 feet and another type of offshore drilling vessels
is drillship which is capable of drilling in water depthes up to 13000 ft.3

Economy and technical complexities are two important factors which makes an
offshore drilling very distinct.for example technical issues we run into are such as:

D Additional backpressure (resistance to a moving fluid by obstructions or

tight bends in the confinement vessel along which it is moving, such as
piping or air vents, against its direction of flow)

D Processing fluids subsea

D Reducing wellhead pressure to allow effective recovery (muiltphase

pumping and pressure boosting)

D Flow assurance (ensuring successful and economical flow of hydrocarbon

stream from reservoir to the point of sale)

D Well monitoring and intervention

D Integrity of subsea and pipeline system

(4 and 1)

    
 

For example With deepwater drilling rig rates in 2010 of around $420,000/day,
and similar additional spread costs, a deep water well of duration of 100 days can
cost around US$100 million.

With high performance jackup rig rates in 2010 of around $150,000, and similar
service costs, a high pressure, high temperature well of duration 100 days can
cost about US$30 million.

Onshore wells can be considerably cheaper, particularly if the field is at a shallow

depth, where costs range from less than $1 million to $15 million for deep and
difficult wells.(1)
4   


 

Subsea production requires specialized equipment which must be enough safe for
enviroment.For relatively shallow water depth we can use diving equipment while
for deep water conditions we need robotic equipments. Any requirement to
repair or intervene with installed subsea equipment is thus normally very
expensive. This type of expense can result in economic failure of the subsea
development.high pressure and high tempreture are common environmental
challenges we have to deal with.

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1.Sealing the wellhead from the environment by means of the tree
connector.
2.Sealing the production bore and annulus from the environment.
3.Providing a controlled flow path from the production tubing, through the
tree to the production flow line. Well flow control can be provided by means
of tree valves and/or a tree-mounted choke.
4.Providing access to the well bore via tree caps and/or swab valves.(4)

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well heads: A #

 is the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that

provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling and
production equipment ,

subsea wellheads from vetcogray company:

 5

Well head functions:

1.Protection against uncontrolled flowing

2.Well flow rate control( choking)

3.Periodic monitoring of well status and placing the well in safe condition by
wireline tools run into well

4.Withstanding pressure and temperature during production, when the well is

shut in or in exceptional operations(hydraulic fracturing for example),2



It is common to identify the type of tree as either "subsea tree" or "surface tree".
Each of these classifications has a number or varieties within them. Examples of
subsea include conventional, dual bore, mono bore, TFL (through flow line),
horizontal, mudline, mudline horizontal, side valve, and TBT (through bore tree)
trees.1
(in the offshore , dry trees sit on a production platform where the crew can use
their hands to work them. Wet trees sit on the wellhead at the sea floor. An
operator works them from a production platform connected through an
umbilical)2

Types of Subsea Trees

There are various kinds of subsea trees, many times rated for a certain water
depth, temperatures, pressure and expected flow.

The  
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 was the first tree to include an annulus bore for
troubleshooting, well servicing and well conversion operations. Although popular,
especially in the North Sea, dual bore subsea trees have been improved over the
years.

These trees can now be specified with guideline or guideline-less position

elements for production or injection well applications.

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 (SCTs) are specifically tailored for company's various
projects. A general SCT is normally used in shallower waters measuring up to
1,000 meters deep.
 %     (HPHT) are able to survive in rough
environments, such as the North Sea. HPHT trees are designed for pressures up to
16,500 psi and temperatures ranging from -33 C to 175 C.(1)

&
"   

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are robotic pieces of equipment operated
from afar to perform tasks on the sea floor. ROVs are available in a wide variety of
function capabilities and complexities from simple "eyeball" camera devices, to
multi-appendage machines that require multiple operators to operate or "fly" the
equipment.


drilling riser is a conduit that provides a temporary extension of a subsea oil well
to a surface drilling facility. Drilling risers are categorised into two types:  


  used with subsea blowout preventer (BOP) and generally used by
floating drilling vessels; and '
(

  used with a surface BOP and

generally deployed from fixed platforms or very stable floating platforms like a
spar or tension leg platform (TLP).(4)

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Subsea production system can range in complexity from:

1.a single satellite well with a flow linked to a fixed platform or FPSO

2.an onshore installation to several wells

3.clustered to a manifold and transferring to a fixed or floating facility

FPSO Transferring:
In order to transfer hydrocarbons from subsea wells to onshore facilities we use
FPSO which is a giant unit vessel that can receive the hydrocarbons from several
wells. FPSO is able to process and store the received hydrocarbon and then
transfer it to onshore. This vessel can store huge amount of oil and gas until we
get to onshore and needed to be offloaded. This massive vehicle works like a oil
tanker and is suitable for frontier lands so we don͛t have provide pipeline
transportation so it decreases cost and save money because installing seabed
pipeline is very expensive than onshore pipelines, especially for small fields which
pipeline is not cost effective at all. FPSO is also movable to any rig which we need
so after well is depleted we relocate it to a new rig.

Subsea Manifold:

D This is typically a tubular steel structure (similar to a template), consisting

of valves and monitoring instruments.
D It is host to a series of remotely operated valves and chokes responsible for
interconnecting the drainage/flow of several wells to the production unit
 D
(4)

  

Another system used to transfer hydrocarbons is pipeline system. This method
has advantages and disadvantages. For example as mentioned before seabed
pipeline is costly and difficult to be done but its suitable for large fields included
several wells and close enough to onshore, because it can be buried under seabed
to avoid massive waves , commercial fishing activities and it helps during
hurricanes we don͛t run into problems. But if pipeline was still uneconomical we
can consider tankers for transportation purposes. It is suitable in small field and
unstable sea floor condition.

. (7)

Subsea advantages:

D Produce from satellite wells.

D Extend field life of older platforms.
 D Faster development time
D Scaleable developments

Economic viability

D Water depth
D Resource density

Subsea Challenges:

D Operability and Integrity

D Operability and integrity impact opex and downtime
D Flow assurance challenges
D Integrity of subsea and pipeline systems
D Subsea valve integrity
D Controls and distribution integrity
D Aging equipment
D Direct Failures: Corrosion, joint failure, splice failure, sensor failure,
solenoid valve
D Indirect F ailures: Dropped object, umbilical dragged by anchor chain or
trawl board, wax or hydrate blocking sensor port (4)




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 "   

 

 )*+ ,
1.completing drilling and install packers

2.retrieve drilling riser and BOP pack

3.retrieve drilling guidebase with ROV assistance

4.run the production flow base

5. run subsea horizontal tree

6.land the tree , lock connectors, test seals and function valves with ROV

7.run BOP stack onto horizontal tree, run BOP test tool

8. retrieve suspention packer , remove wearbushing from tree

9.run completion string, make up tubing hanger

10.land hanger in production tree and and test seals

11.rig up production test package( electric wireline and lubricator)

12.run guns ,correlate and perforate wells

13.carry out production test, acid stimulation and multirate test

14.unlatch running tools,rig down production test and packages

15.run internal tree cap 16.ROV closes tree valves

17.retrieve BOP stack, retrieve guidewires

18.install debris cap, deploy telescopic legs

19.suspend well

20.tie into pipeline for production

References:

1. Wikipedia (well completion, subsea and all definitions )

2. Well completion and serving : oil and gas development techniques
(Denis Perinn, Michel Caron, Goerge Gaillot)
3. Applied drilling engineering (Adam T.Bourgoyne)
4. Subsea completion and production systems (steffan K.Jaroop)
5. Vetcogray oil and gas business catalog
6. Schlumberger subsea solutions brochure
7. Transportation of oil and gas in Alaska (Shell Company )