FMC Choses DNV GL to Verify Deepwater JIP

FMC has chosen DNV GL to perform independent third party verification of a high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) subsea completion, production and work-over system. FMC is running this project as a joint industry program (JIP) with Anadarko, BP, Conoco Phillips, and Shell, to aim at product standardization and cost efficiency.

Producing oil and gas from deepwater reservoirs with pressures of up to 20,000 psi and temperatures of 350°F at the mudline has for years been the objective of task force groups of the best and brightest engineers within many of the oil majors’ organizations. The establishment of the joint industry program led by FMC shows an industry that is now pragmatically collaborating as a response to increasing costs and a falling oil price.

“HPHT equipment design should be treated carefully as the associated risks are not a simple extrapolation from the current 15k psi, 250ºF operating conditions. The design, and subsequent independent verification for equipment that can withstand these hostile environments is complex and demanding. Rigorous risk management is an integral part of such technological developments,” commented Martha Viteri, who leads DNV GL’s Subsea and Well Systems unit in North America.