Norwegian Subsea Standardization

An industry collaboration to raise quality, reduce cost and delivery times through
standardized project processes and equipment compatibility

Roald Sirevaag, Statoil

David Llewelyn, Nosk olje og gass
 A report on Subsea Standardization in Norway

• This joint industry initiative responding to the Åm report, is sponsored by

KonKraft and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association
• The objective is to raise quality and reduce costs and delivery times by
increasing standardization
• It is intended to be a further step in the ‘industrialization of the subsea sector`

Workgroup Participants

Operators
Suppliers

* *

* Industry sponsors
 The Resource Challenge and 6 Focus areas

• Subsea production is an essential option for field

development on the Norwegian Continental Shelf 6. Compliance with
established standards
• But Subsea Suppliers are fully committed now, and and Equipment
qualification
projections indicate an increasing gap between
Operator demand and the industry’s ability to supply

• There is an increasing inventory of subsea facilities

which offer opportunities for life extension, or form a
basis for expansion and increased functionality

3. Universal Workover 2. Subsea component

systems catalogue with 4. Standardized
configurable solutions subsea
documentation

5. Brownfield
Re-engineering

1. Unified Specifications
and QA/QC for subsea
forgings
Current Subsea Standards Work in Norway

• Subsea Standardisation in Norway is overseen by Norwegian Standards

(NS) via the Expert Group Underwater (EGU)

• Work is focussed on generating ISO 13628 Standards (1-17) which are

developed from the Norsok Standards U 001- 012 and aligned with the API
RP17 Standards (A-P)

• Full alignment of ISO and API standards is the goal of NS, but this co-
operative work was suspended 2 years ago for copyright and other reasons

• Making progress with standards is also challenging due to heavy workloads

on key subsea specialists

The recommendations made here provide a framework for future

Standardisation efforts in Norway, though several relate to the way the
subsea industry operates
1. Unified Specifications, QA/QC for Subsea Forgings
• Initial focus is on carbon steel & low alloy forgings, aiming to rationalise the wide
range of Operator compositional, QA /QC and verification requirements
• Comparisons of typical Operator specifications found NO contradiction or
irreconcilable differences that cannot be resolved by a common forging spec
agreed across the industry, featuring several material ‘grades’
• How will the new forging specification work?
– Three grades of forgings - similar to grades of gasoline at gas station
– End user specifies:
- Material (e.g. AISI 8630, ASTM A 182 F22)
- Forging specification (i.e. this new Subsea Forging Spec.)
- Forging grade (from Grade 1 to Grade 3)
– For each Grade (1-3):
Grade Material Specification QA/QC Documentation Target Applications

Grade 1 - Minimal ITP Low criticality, non-hydrocarbon

- Industry standards - Industry standards
"Standard" - Standard NDE service, static applications, tools

- Industry standards Majority of subsea forgings,

Grade 2 - Expanded ITP - Industry standards
- Additional requirements for composition & hydrocarbon service, static
"Plus" - Additional NDE requirements - Additional requirements
manufacturing applications

- Industry standards - Comprehensive ITP Fatigue-sensitive applications (e.g.

Grade 3 - Industry standards
- Enhanced composition & manufacturing - Enhanced NDE requirements for tree master block, wellhead connector,
"Premium" - Enhanced requirements
requirements for fatigue-sensitive applications fatigue-sensitive applications riser stress joint)
 1.1 DNV Forging JIP; topics and participants

• Kick off meeting held

6.11.13
• Draft RP due end 2014
• Phase 2+ could cover
alloy steels, welding,
bolting and coatings
 2. Subsea Component Catalogue
The objective is to promote use of configurable systems and components that
cater for a reasonably wide range of NCS reservoirs and locations (eg: 10K, 121C, 80-
500m).

It saves engineering time, speeds up deliveries and improves quality.

The subsea component catalogue;

• is a catalogue of qualified subsea components with shared interfaces
• allows equipment to be configured during production for a specific project
• will have regional variations to suit local needs (over trawlable structures etc)
• and is shareable; for example the Statoil catalogue is available to others NCS operators

But … it is not an attempt to eliminate differentiation between suppliers or stifle

innovation
2.1 Subsea standardization – Car analogy

Family Youth Senior Adventure

VW Passat Golf Tiguan Touareg

Chevrolet Malibu Sonic Cruze Impala
Toyota Corolla Yaris Camry Avalon
Renault Megane Clio Capture Grand Scenic

NCS Deepwater Deepwater Deepwater

Template Cluster Cluster Cluster
7’’ / 10K 5’’ / 10K 5’’ / 15K 5’’ / 20K
121C 250F 121C 250F 177C 350F 190C 400F
80 – 500 m 1500 – 3000 m 1500 – 3000 m 1500 – 3000 m
Aker X X X X
FMC X X X X
GE X X X X
OneSubsea X X X X
 2.2 Interfaces - umbilical termination
Is this where we want
to be?

Umbilical Termination Size Reduction initiative(UMSIRE)

• Smaller and easier to install
• Standard interfaces
• Cost reduction due to volume production
• Enabling independent contract processes for:
- Template
- Umbilical supply
- Umbilical installation
2.3 Interfaces and Standards – further opportunities

Equipment designed for ease of installation.

• Increaed choice of installation vessel
• Reduced installation time
• Alternative installation methods
• Life cycle cost optimised

Universal Pod recepticle – allowing free choice of SCM

Subsea connector and penetrator specification JIP............

More Standardistaion on the Vertical axis – eg connector and tubing

hanger profiles.

Standard `Footprint envelope` for equipment inside template or manifold

Standard pipeline sizes

Standardized and shared tooling

3. Universal Workover Systems
Today there are mulitiple workover systems of different age and design.
The aim is to establish an industry standard workover system to interface
with the majority of NCS rigs and subsea wells - independent of tree supplier

It will save rig time and improve safety.

• The new open-water Workover system is
designed for use between 80-500m water depth,
10K, 121C for a medium sized rig

• Fully meets ISO 13626-7 which covers

dynamic loading

• Includes adaptors to the tree cap, with Control system

interfaces made subsea

• Eliniates the rig crew learning curve

• Offers new ownership options

4. Standardized Subsea Documentation
Documentation can be a major source of (unnecessary) work for suppliers, responding to
marginally different client requirements for the same equipment – the DNV JIP will define;

Standard Subsea Dataset Product List

GE Vetco Grey Shell • Tree
AK Solutions ExxonMobil • Wellhead
FMC etc Statoil etc • Tubing Hanger system
Optimised
+
• Choke Module
•
Minimum data Minimum data = Subsea Data
•
Integrated Template structure
Manifold
provision by major requirement for Standard • Controls
and sub-suppliers users ( project and • Umbilical
operations) • Tie back/ installation systems
• Work over systems

Standardize MRB contents

Company specific
data requirements
• Tagging and formatting
System Documentation
• Verification
• Scope and interfaces
• Regulatory compliance
• System description and
• Engineering/training data
deliverables
• Data entry incl. MC, H/O,

Subsea Data Definitions

• Review industry standards
• Survey of existing user definitions
• Gain consensus on common data packages
4.1 Documentation JIP Deliverables and Participation

• A Recommended Practice (RP) will be generated to describe a basic

set of subsea documentation for specific components
• It is proposed this RP will be included in NORSOK U-001, and as a
future ISO standard

• DNV Kick off meeting

held on 4.11.13
• 5 x 2 day workshops
planned in 2014
• Wider participation is
still being encouraged
5 Brownfield Subsea Re-Engineering
Example
• Draugen; first oil 1993, field life 20 years, now being extended a further 20 years
• Draguen’s 22 subsea wells, involve 3 suppliers with 7 Tree designs

Improvements to U-009 Life

extension approval process Lifetime prediction Joint Industrty
models, callibration and Specification for
design enhancements Obsolescence

Adaptive Technologies and

standard interfaces for “bolt-ons”

Industrialize Tree
Reburbishment Use of MDIS Control
protocols & SIIS
Instrumentation
Standards
Improved Condition
monitoring & predictive
maintenance
Life cycle Original facilites designed for
documentation expansion/interconnecatbility
5.1 Brownfield Subsea Re-engineering
The industry challenge is to take a “Life of Field “ perspective with the design and
management of subsea facilities.

• Brownfield Challenges include:

- New industry codes and changing operating conditions
- Novel production technologies, unknown when the equipment was installed
- Inability to change vendor or utilise latest equipment type
- Obsolete Components
- Original design philosophies, engineering and verification data missing
- Predicting remaining service life
- Industrializing Refurbishment ( reducing XT turn-arounds from12 to < 4 months)
- Lack of interface standards for “adaptive technologies” and “bolt-ons”
- Expandability - not built-in to existing facilities

This Objective aims to implment a set of “best practices” that;

a) facilitate and simplify re-engineering of existing subsea facilities for life
extension, tie-backs and secondary recovery, and
b) will “future proof” new developments to simplify future changes

• A best practice review is proposed to:

- Evaluate and communicate industry progress in the key areas
- Outline the path towards a life cycle approach to subsea developments
6. Compliance with Established Standards

The challenge is to improve the engineer’s compliance with industry and pre-
established standards.

Because every project is a little different, it is tempting to implement `preference

engineering`

• A review of industry best practice indicates the optimum approach:

• Corporate subsea organization overseeing implementation of standards and
- strategic procurement
• Frequent internal publication and awareness session on subsea standards and
relevant frame agreements
• Involvement of engineers in ongoing standards review and generation work
• Ready availability to Company engineers of standard designs appropriate for
company projects which in turn, minimize qualification risk
• Configurable components available that can be adjusted to suit specific
projects and increase project flexibility
• Material stocking to reduce lead times ( either finished or part finished
components)
• Suppliers proactively demonstating the advantages of standardisation
6.1 Equipment Qualification

Equipment Qualification is an industry challenge, whereby incremental and

“critical path” qualification should be avoided:

• The workgroup recommended qualification work is done before FEED, via joint
industry initiatives such as DeepStar or Demo 2000, where a budget is available
for planned equipment testing.

Examples for Joint Industry Qualification;

• XHPHT. Equipment resiliance and reliability for 20k/200C
• Intervention systems for XHPHT trees
• Subsea Production Systems for 4000m.
• Riserless well intervention systems
• Sea water filtration and treatment systems for IOR
• Hydrates and wax management for very long tie-backs (200km+)
• Need industry wide design specifications and interfaces for Subsea separation,
compression and boosting
• Electric trees, manifolds and control/monitoring by use of fibre optics
• Condition monitoring for field design life of 50 years
So how do we propose to industrialise the Subsea sector?

• Operators should specify Subsea equipment with the same/similar

specifications (forgings, interfaces, documentation etc.)

• They should utilise standard catalogues which include configurable

components with industry standard interfaces

• Wherever possible, costs should be shared by renting work-over

systems, tooling and conducting joint qualification programs

• The industry should drive for designs, standards and work processes that
simplify and improve life extension, help the refurbishment/upgrading of
old equipment and facilitate field expansion
Conclusions and Way Forward
• Upcoming subsea projects indicate that `business as usual` is no longer an
option: Co-operation is urgently required to eliminate unnecessary work,
reduce delivery times and through Standardization, and improve quality

• This work has helped initiate two JIPs;

• Recommended Practice for Subsea Forgings
• Standandardised Subsea Documentation
...
• The workgroup recommends the subsea industry to adopt:
• Use of standard catalogues with configurable components for NCS application
• A universal workover system to be used on a wide range of Xmas trees and rigs
• Implementation of best practices for exisiting and future Brownfield developments
• Strategic Procurement to increase production runs of “standards products”
• Improved compliance with existing standards and the development of a forward
looking qualification program.

• Norsk olje og gass and Norwegian Standards will together work to support
and encourage the industry to implement these recommendations