The Statoil-operated Gullfaks gas field in the Norwegian Sea will use Nexans' innovative power umbilicals combining power, fiber-optic and hydraulic lines in a single cross section. The cables were handed over to Statoil this month.
The subsea gas compression station will be installed on the seafloor at the Gullfaks Sør satellite field, 15km from the Gullfaks C platform. It will increase total gas extraction by 22 MMbbl.
The Gullfaks field is located 160km west of Sognefjorden, Norway. The subsea gas compression station will be only the second of its kind in the world.
The cables will power two 5mW gas compressors at a depth of 135m. The 650-tonne station will be housed in a 420-tonne protective structure, managing a flow rate of 10 MMcum/d.
Subsea compression is used when reservoir pressure falls below a critical level, reducing gas production. By compressing the gas on the seafloor, pressure in the pipelines is increased. Gas flows faster and allowing more to be extracted from the field. Subsea compression increases production, as well as the lifetime of the field.
Subsea wet gas compression is suitable for small and midsized fields because of the compact size of the compressor. The solution can be installed in new or existing fields opening up possibilities for developing fields in the Arctic and other deepwater regions.
The Gullfaks compression station will be in operation later this year. Nexans delivered umbilicals to the first subsea compression station at the Åsgard gas field, also operated by Statoil, last year.
