Wireline Issue 45 - Summer 2019

Image right: The Otter Multiphase Pump (MPP). Below left: The dive vessel Seven Falcon. Bottom: TAQA project team monitoring the Site Integration Test (SIT) at OneSubsea's Horsoy facility near Bergen.

infrastructure, but those were swiftly resolved and provided valuable learnings for any future projects of this kind.” The supply of the MPP added a new dimension to the long-standing relationship between TAQA and OneSubsea. “You build up trust over time and that’s what projects like this are all about,” says OneSubsea’s Mike Barrie. “If ever an operator is looking at what is – for them – a new technology or piece of hardware, they need to trust the supply chain to deliver.” Mike says TAQA was open to the new integrated contracting model. “It has numerous benefits for both parties, but critically it provides cost assurance early in the project and risk can be managed more effectively. It means the supply chain is managing much of the risk rather than it being solely down to the operator – all parties are working towards a shared goal and we all benefit from its successful implementation. “It also allows the operator to be leaner in terms of its own project management – the process frees up time, money and resources that can be directed elsewhere.” MPP technology has been developed over the past 20 years, primarily for deployment in large-scale deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa, but OneSubsea adapted it to create a fit-for-purpose North Sea solution. “We hear a great deal about new technology being needed to unlock reserves, but this is an example of an area where there is technology out there already that could be more widely applied,” adds Mike. Meanwhile, TAQA’s demonstrable ability to move output directly from Otter to North Cormorant put a new slant on the economics of Eider, reinforcing the view that production from the field was not, in itself, enough to keep the platform viable. “While it was

"It shows that our sector still provides opportunities for young professionals to gain experience and develop their capabilities within challenging and exciting projects.” TAQA decommissioning operations engineer Ewan Wright

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