Caspian production to ramp up

David Paganie • Houston

This month we take a look at E&P operations in the largest enclosed body of water on Earth, the Caspian Sea. Capex growth by 2016 is expected to hit $4 billion a year in efforts to tap more than 50 Bboe in reserves across the area. The big projects, ACG, Shah Deniz, and Kashagan lead the way for this hub of demand. Europe to the west and China to the east will generate demand for more production from this relatively lightly explored region.

On the downside, the northern parts of the Caspian can be nasty in the winter, with temperatures sinking to less than -30º C (-22º F). Low salt content in the water and relatively shallow depths lead the northern Caspian to freeze over almost half the year, so arctic innovation is a must for operations here.

Owing to the cost of operations in such a difficult environment, NOCs from the area such as SOCAR from Azerbaijan, Turkmenneft of Turkmenistan, and KazMunaiGaz of Kazakhstan are the largest spenders, but IOCs are present in the area as parts of consortiums.

One unknown centers on whether the Caspian remains a sea or is reclassified as a lake. If it remains a sea, it likely will divide into national sectors. If it is defined legally as a lake, each surrounding country might get an equal share.

Starting onpage 30, Chris Boulter, Peter Kiernan, and Roger Knight of Infield Systems Ltd. go into the past, present, and future of the Caspian Sea.

A specific look at events circumstances and events offshore Turkmenistan for Dragon Oil shows major production plans now that the Soviet-era platforms and wells are up to modern standards. Emphasis is on the Cheleken Contract Area where Dragon expects to build on progress made in 2010. New pipelines and offshore processing plans will boost the potential throughput, and when coupled with plans to add new platforms and drill more wells make the Cheleken operation one of big promise. See whatOffshore’s Editor-Europe Jeremy Beckman has to say about Dragon starting on page 34. 

Subsea processing and boosting

One of two special inclusions in this month’sOffshore is the new 2011 Worldwide Survey of Subsea Processing: Separation, Compression, and Pumping Systems poster. There are myriad improvements, additions, upgrades, and updates from the prior year’s version. In addition, K Janardhanan and Mac McKee of INTECSEA bring you an up-to-date look at this rapidly growing technology and explain what is involved in the various stages of subsea production and why operators implement the technology.

They also point out that the approaches to use of subsea boosting and processing is evolving and do vary by operator, and that R&D on the topic has shifted to project-specific work.

Seismic vessel survey

This is the other of the two special topics this month. Unlike the last couple of years, there is some good news regarding the vessel count. It is up to 163 from 2010’s 156. There also are newbuilds coming onto the market to meet the requirements of advances in acquisition, data handling, and processing.

This exhaustive survey begins onpage 36 with an overview by Gene Kliewer, Offshore’s technology editor for subsea and seismic. The pages that immediately follow that list the vessels, capacities, areas of operation, and more for each vessel reported. 

DOT call for abstracts is live

The advisory board of DOT International is accepting abstracts for this year’s event scheduled Oct. 11-13 at the Hilton Riverside, New Orleans. I invite you to share your knowledge, ideas, and lessons learned with the international deepwater community. The abstract submission form is available atwww.deepoffshoretechnology.com.

The submission deadline isApril 5.

To respond to articles in Offshore, or to offer articles for publication, contact the editor by email ([email protected]).