About this Workshop

Abstract

For many years Subsea was considered the “new frontier” for the oil and gas industry. Today, it is a mature yet still growing sector of our industry.   While there have been numerous attempts at various levels of standardization in our business we have been unable to make any material gains; and the question is: why?

It seems that all the drivers are there for standardization of subsea hardware and processes: people resource constraints, higher capital costs, enhanced reliability requirements, increasing project complexity, deeper water and  longer offsets;  all should drive market standardization: but  the initiatives undertaken by operators and suppliers so far have failed to deliver globally standardized systems, equipment, interfaces or tooling.

The value proposition for standardization is clear for suppliers and operators alike: standard products cost less, use stock materials, require no additional engineering and use repeatable manufacturing processes that improve efficiency and quality. Safety and integrity along with installation and intervention procedures will also continuously improve using standardized tools and training. 

In 2008 an SPE Workshop on subsea standardization delivered a mandate to focus on 3 items: Quality Processes, Welding and Materials. The result to date has been limited progress with some suppliers and operators but no real progress across the industry.
Now, with 4 years of additional learnings, this workshop will take a fresh look at standardization and tackle the following questions:

• Building on lessons learned from our 2008 efforts: how can we move forward in a structured process to deliver standardization?
• What are the barriers to this collaboration and what “vehicle” do we need for operators and suppliers to collaborate to change the industry?
• Is there any low hanging fruit- what is doable today/tomorrow? 
• How do we progress toward the operator’s ideal desire for a catalog of standardized components to deliver a complete fit-for-purpose subsea system?  

Our overall goal is to improve the Environmental, Safety, Operational Integrity and Efficiency of Subsea Production Systems through the application of the appropriate amount of Standardization, and we intend to use this workshop to make material progress toward this goal.

Workshop Guidelines

Workshops maximize the exchange of ideas among attendees and presenters through brief technical presentations followed by extended Q&A periods. Focused topics attract an informed audience eager to discuss issues critical to advancing both technology and best practices.

Many of the presentations are in the form of case studies, highlighting engineering achievements and lessons learned. In order to stimulate frank discussion, no proceedings are published and members of the press are not invited to attend.

Documentation

Proceedings from the workshop will not be published; therefore, formal papers and handouts are not requested of speakers or panel members. A URL containing released copies of the workshop presentations will be available to attendees following the workshop.

Commercialism

In remaining consistent with workshop objectives and SPE guidelines, commercialism in presentations will not be permitted.  Company logos should be used only to indicate the affiliation of the presenter(s).

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Attendees will receive 1.6 CEUs.

One CEU equals 10 contact hours of participation.  CEUs will be awarded through SPE Professional Development for participation and completion of SPE workshop.  A permanent record of a participant’s involvement and awarding of CEUs will be maintained by SPE.