Statoil Tests World´s First Diverless Hot Tap
Claudio Paschoa
January 5, 2010
After tests the diverless hot tap proved to be interesting for deep water and shallow water operations.During early August 2009 the world’s first diverless hot tap operation on a pressurised pipeline was performed by Statoil on the Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea. This was the catalyst for the development of the world’s only remote hot tapping machine. “Connecting a pipe to an existing deepwater line would historically mean shutting down and draining the pipeline, cutting into it, adding a special tee spoolpiece and welding it or securing it in place, ensuring the seal is leak-tight. All the water in the pipe would then have to be displaced before the line could come back onstream.