Small and mid-size Norwegian suppliers continue to flock to Houston, the leading gateway not just to the Gulf of Mexico but to other parts of the world offshore market. “An increasing number of Norwegian companies are showing an interest in establishing themselves in Houston and building relations with the oil companies here,” says Knut Aanstad, the US Regional Director at Intsok, the Norwegian oil & gas partners.
In addition to helping Norwegian companies find their feet in Houston, Intsok has done much to spread awareness of Norwegian oil and gas expertise at the Houston week it arranges each March. In recent years the invitation-only event has attracted a full house.
In the past the seminar has focused on specific technology areas, such as deepwater technology, gas, LNG, and technology for the Arctic and cold regions. This year, after consulting with the oil companies, Intsok decided instead to hold workshops on the following topics:
• integrated operations;
• drilling and well construction;
• subsea technology; and
• process technology.
“Integrated operations” is not a technology as such, but a way of working which draws on technology components and depends on people interaction, Aanstad says. No one country can claim to be the authority on this subject, but Norway can offer rich experience, with Norwegian operators Norsk Hydro and Statoil, as well as BP and ConocoPhillips, leading the way in developing integrated operations.
Norwegian expertise is also to the fore in subsea technology. Statoil has contracted FMC Kongsberg Subsea to implement the world’s first full-scale subsea separation system on the Tordis field, while Aker Kvaerner is supplying the technology for the world’s longest and deepest subsea multiphase boosting project to BP’s King field in the GoM. Meanwhile Hydro is qualifying subsea gas compression for the Ormen Lange project, and Statoil is planning to implement the subsea injection of raw water on the Tyrihans development.
Innovative process technologies include methods for treating produced water which comply with the most stringent requirements yet stipulated for the offshore sector and separation techniques for heavy oil.
In the area of drilling and well construction, enhancements are constantly being made in smart well technology, while more cost-effective intervention techniques are becoming available, for both platform and subsea wells.•
