Subsea development projects have been under substantial pressure due to cost inflation and the low oil price, prompting a need to simplify the industry’s approach. DNV GL is seeking additional collaborators for the project to drive standardization, beginning with subsea pumping, to ensure benefits throughout the subsea supply chain. Subsea processing is a relatively young and undeveloped field of technology, requiring operators to tailor-make solutions to meet field-specific requirements. If that technology could be better understood and harnessed, there is considerable potential for it to deliver increased value at reduced costs. The JIP ‘Subsea processing – Standardization of subsea pumping’ seeks to deepen industry knowledge and encourage progress in this area by examining the potential for standardization in subsea processing, beginning with subsea pumping. Standardization still allows for flexibility to custom-make facilities at a system level through standard functional descriptions and specifications. However, it also increases predictability in the value chain, thus lowering transaction costs and improving the speed of implementation, while still allowing freedom to innovate and to employ new technology. DNV GL is currently calling for collaborators within the oil and gas supply industry to input into the JIP, to suggest additional areas which they believe could benefit from standardization and to input into the creation of this important new industry standard.
