This month, Infield systems looks at the changing water depths in which subsea wells are being drilled and what this means in terms of field development types.
Subsea wells intrinsically are associated with deepwater developments. The graphic shows how subsea completed deepwater (>500 m) wells are becoming more and more prominent. From this graphic, 2005 was the year that more deepwater wells were brought onstream than were shallow water ones. The steep increase in the proportion of deepwater developments relates to the combined deepwater developments in the Gulf of Mexico, Latin America, and West Africa which have been and will be brought onstream between 2004 and 2007.
The proportion of global subsea expenditure forecast between 2007 and 2011 shows floating production is expected to remain the dominant development type, with 53% of future expenditure spent directly on the same field as the floating hub development. Some 29% of forecast expenditure is expected on satellite fields tied back to hub developments. Particularly, beyond 2007 more satellite fields will be brought onstream as processing and export capacity allows on these existing facilities. Subsea satellites to onshore facilities and to fixed production constitute the minor remainder of the percentages.
The satellite field to onshore facility is growing rapidly in significance, with developments expected to take place in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North Africa.
-Howard Wright, senior analyst, Infield Systems
