Multiphase specialist looking to build on East Spar subsea breakthrough
Indonesia, along with Malaysia and Australia, is one of the countries in the Southeast Asian and Australasian regions targeted by Framo Engineering for its multiphase technology. The company has made several presentations in Indonesia and participated in relevant seminars and conferences. Support is also provided through parent company Frank Mohn's office in Singapore.
Framo has just scored a notable success in Australia with a contract to supply two multiphase flow meters for subsea installation on Western Mining's East Spar development in Australia. The contract calls for a complete package including control and communication systems, software and control stations. According to application manager Per Skiftesvik, this will be the first commercial installation of multiphase metering systems subsea as a result of competitive bidding.
To date 11 Framo multiphase meters have been delivered or ordered for topsides installation. Three have been supplied to BHP's Liverpool Bay development, where they will be used for measuring wet gas flows. The latest order has come from Mexican oil company Pemex. In the multi-meter tests concluded recently at Norsk Hydro's Porsgrunn research facility, the meter performed well over a wide operating envelope, including gas volume fractions up to 98%, the top of the testing range, and up to 100% water cut, Skiftesvik says.
The Framo meter uses a multi-energy level gamma fraction meter and a venturi momentum meter to determine the oil, water and gas fractions and their different flow rates. A flow mixer provides a homogeneous flow to the metering section, thus making it independent of the type of flow regime.
Framo is also well advanced with the development of a multiphase pump. Its Subsea Multiphase Booster Pump (SMUBS) is installed in 270 metres water depth on one of the subsea satellites on Norske Shell's Draugen Field in Norway where it is increasing well production by some 5,000 b/d compared with natural drive. Like Framo's meter, the pump uses a mixer to homogenise the flow. The pump itself is of helico-axial type, driven by a hydraulic water turbine. All components susceptible to wear and tear are located in a retrievable cartridge. The pump, as well as the cartridge, is designed for diverless installation and intervention.
In a project backed by Norske Shell and Statoil, Framo is now building the prototype of an electrically driven pump - ELSMUBS - capable of operating at a much greater distance from the host facility. This winter ELSMUBS is due to undergo systems testing in a wet environment.
Interest in the Framo's multiphase pump technology has been expressed by oil companies around the world, Skiftesvik says, and the company is currently working with a potential customer in Australia on the supply of subsea booster pumps for installation in 400 metres of water on a Chinese owned field.
Read seeking collaboration in downhole, process R&D
CAD view of the glycol dehydration system which Read is to supply for Phillips' Ekofisk redevelopment.
The Read Group is currently in the middle of an intense programme to introduce its varied products and services to the Indonesian and Malaysian oil industries. The company has identified these as the two key markets in the Far East. Earlier this year it organised a seminar in Kuala Lumpur which was attended by delegates from the two countries' oil industries. Altogether, company representatives will be visiting the Far East six times this year.
One of the company's strengths is in technology development in close collaboration with clients, and this is an approach it aims to replicate in new markets. "In the Far East we are keen to get established in R&D," says marketing group coordinator Patricia Hartmann. "We are in close contact with leading oil companies and contractors."
One project which has aroused interest in Indonesia is Read's downhole separation (DHS) technology, which brings together the company's reservoir and process expertise. A downhole cyclone unit separates out the produced water from the wellstream, and this is then re-injected in the aquifer by means of dual completion in the same well.
The process, for which patents are pending, offers benefits such as the reduction or elimination of water production due to coning, and the extension of the productive life of low-pressure reservoirs. A prototype system is to be built for Saga Petroleum, which has supported the project.
Read's process capability has been considerably strengthened since last year's acquisition of Robert Jenkins Oil & Gas. Earlier this year it won a contract to supply the chemical and methanol injection plant for Statoil's Norne production ship.
Other contracts include produced water treatment systems for Saga's Vigdis project and Maersk's Gorm, and most recently a contract to design and supply a complete glycol dehydration system for Phillips' Ekofisk re-development. In line with Norsok and CRINE principles, the company designs its equipment to meet functional specifications supplied by the client.
Read's vertical seismic profile (VSP) project, supported by Elf Petroleum Norge and the Research Council of Norway, is now close to fruition, with results from prototype testing due soon. Having completed the development of a four-level downhole tool, Read is now about to introduce an eight-level tool. Its downhole caliper service has found many takers, and the company is now developing a 24-arm slim-hole calipe r to extend its capability to the lower tubing sizes, Hartmann says.
Copyright 1995 Offshore. All Rights Reserved.
