World’s Longest [37 km] ETH Production Pipeline installed offshore Norway

Neptune Energy reports the  installation and testing of the world’s longest traceheated subsea production pipeline at its operated Fenja field in the Norwegian sea.

“Completing the installation and testing of the ETH pipe is a great technical achievement and a major step forward in the development of the Fenja field," said Erik Oppedal, Neptune Energy’s Director of Projects and Engineering in Norway. "The ETH pipe-in-pipe solution is crucial for extracting the oil, and is a creative, cost-effective approach that permitted us to tie the field back to existing infrastructure."

The 37-km electrically trace-heated (ETH) pipe-in-pipe solution is designed to transport oil from the field to the Njord A platform, operated by Equinor. The ETH pipe-in-pipe solution should significantly reduced the potential cost of the development by enabling the field to be tied back to existing infrastructure.

The ETH Pipe

The ETH pipeline was developed and qualified through a collaborative approach with TechnipFMC. Due to the high wax content of the Fenja field’s oil, the contents of the pipeline must be warmed to a temperature above 28-degrees Celsius before starting the flow after a scheduled shut down or interruption. During normal production, the temperature in the pipeline would be well above this temperature. 

“The successful completion of the Fenja ETH pipe-in-pipe installation has been made possible through our unique iEPCI project capabilities, close collaboration with Neptune Energy, and by leveraging TechnipFMC’s experience in the technology," said Ståle Ryggvik, TechnipFMC’s Project Director. "This technology has the potential to unlock future developments with challenging reservoir properties.”

The offshore installation was carried out across two subsea campaigns in 2020 and 2021 by TechnipFMC’s vessel, approximately 120 km north of Kristiansund, Norway, at a water depth of about 320 m. The fabrication and assembly of the ETH-pipe was conducted by TechnipFMC.

Drilling of the Fenja production wells is scheduled to begin in Q4 2021, by the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig.