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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Deepwater prospects draw oil and gas investment
4/9/2024
Investment in subsea oil and gas operations will grow in value by 10% (CAGR) from 2024 to 2027, according to a report by Rystad Energy. It says that investment has been most active in South America (particularly Brazil) and Europe, where Norway has seen a resurgence in activity.
Before that time, total spending on production and processing systems such as subsea umbilical risers and flowlines, trees, wellheads and manifolds will reach $32bn by the end of 2024, up 6.5% over 2023. That growth is driven by investment in deepwater and ultra-deepwater projects, as well as facilitated by new technology. Interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) is also pushing development.
One project that might fit into such marketing is Chevron’s Anchor project in US waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which has begun production. The high-pressure technology can operate at up to 20,000 psi (1,379 bar) at reservoir depths of up to 34,000 ft (10.3 km) below sea level, in what is claimed to be an industry first.
Chevron reports that the Anchor development will consist of seven subsea wells tied into a semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) located approximately 140 miles (225 km) off the coast of Louisiana, in water depths of approximately 5,000 ft (1,524 metres). The Anchor FPU was designed as an all-electric facility with electric motors and electronic controls.
Although that project will send oil north back to the US, another project in the Gulf of Mexico is flowing in the opposite direction. The first cargo from the Fast LNG Altamira project, the first LNG export facility in Mexico, shipped last month, according to the US Energy Information Agency. It said: ‘Developer New Fortress Energy produced the LNG aboard an offshore floating LNG (FLNG) production vessel with a capacity to liquefy up to 0.199bn cf/d of natural gas.’ It is one of two FLNG production units, both of which are fed by US natural gas delivered via the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline. Another Mexican terminal, Energia Costa Azul, with an export capacity of 0.4bn cf/d, is currently under construction on the west coast.
Across the Atlantic, west African near-neighbours Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria have agreed to build an LNG pipeline across the Gulf of Guinea to processing facilities on the former’s Bioko Island. The news is the latest ‘gas mega hub’ (GMH) upgrade to be announced, after the 2007 facility’s original feed from the Alba field declined and a tie-back to the Alen field delivered first gas in 2021. In 2023, Marathon Energy and Chevron (through Noble Energy) signed a deal with the country to process Alba gas under new terms, and process gas from the Aseng field operated by Noble. In addition, earlier this year the country signed a deal with northerly neighbour Cameroon to develop projects along their shared maritime border.
