Subsea technology

A subsea factory is like a surface process facility operated on the seabed. This makes it possible to utilise remote-controlled transport of hydrocarbons at any offshore facility.

We have already taken the first technological steps. We have made the world’s first complete subsea solution for separation and injection of water and sand from the Tordis wellstream, and developed the first subsea facility for injection of raw seawater on Tyrihans.

The next step on the path towards a “subsea factory” is to realise subsea gas compression on Åsgard and Gullfaks. Our efforts to verify subsea gas compression for the Åsgard field at the K-lab plant is paving the way for future seabed-to-land solutions, combined with subsea processing.

Compact separation facilities on the seabed will be a key to success in deep-water areas like the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil.

Projects such as the oil-dominated multi-phase transport on Tyrihans and Snøhvit’s gas condensate transport are at the forefront in the development of multi-phase transport over long distances.