2008-02-05 - An ABB-led consortium is helping StatoilHydro develop technologies and work processes that will help integrate its operations and increase production, cut operating and maintenance costs, reduce health, safety and environmental incidents, and prolong the life of its oil and gas fields.
By
ABB Communications
In April 2006, a report issued by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association found that if oil and gas companies active in the Norwegian shelf were to integrate their operations, they could increase their revenues by $41.5 billion.
On October 1, 2007 Statoil merged with Hydro to form StatoilHydro, one of the world’s largest integrated oil and gas companies.
By integrating their operations, oil and gas companies like StatoilHydro would be able to accelerate and increase production, reduce operating costs, improve safety and extend the life of their oilfields.
StatoilHydro produces 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) a day from 39 oil and gas fields in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. In Europe alone, it operates some 7,000 kilometers of pipeline from offshore fields in the Norwegian continental shelf to onshore facilities and terminals in five European countries along the North Sea rim.
To help identify the methods, technologies and work processes necessary to integrate its operations, StatoilHydro (then Statoil) appointed ABB to lead an R&D consortium consisting of IBM, SKF and Aker Kvaerner.
The project, known as “TAIL – Integrated Operations” began in January 2006 with the following targets:
- Increase production by at least 5 percent by reducing production losses caused by operational failure, maintenance stops and inadequate equipment performance
- Reduce operating, construction and maintenance costs by 30 percent
- Reduce the number of unwanted incidents relating to health, safety and the environment (HSE) by 50 percent
- Extend the lifetime of StatoilHydro’s oil and gas fields
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By integrating their operations, oil and gas companies like StatoilHydro would be able to accelerate and increase production, reduce operating costs, improve safety and extend the life of their oilfields.
As its name suggests, TAIL IO is aimed initially at improving operations at fields approaching the end of their life-spans. Tail-end production is a major challenge facing all oil and gas companies. It is the stage where the production rate is declining, the facilities are aging, and operation costs are high.
TAIL IO consists of a number of subprojects on which StatoilHydro and the ABB consortium collaborate. They range across a broad range of technologies - from wireless communications and sensor systems to robotics and mobile ICT – and have the ultimate objective of protecting critical assets, improving productivity and safety, and preventing shutdowns.
Click to read more about the project and how ABB is helping StatoilHydro integrate its operations. (ABB Review 3/2007)