4Subsea to provide monitoring systems for Statoil’s Snorre B

Independent engineering company 4Subsea has been awarded a contract to deliver an integrity monitor systems for six flexible risers on Statoil’s Snorre B semi-submersible platform in the North Sea.

4Subsea said on Tuesday the contract was awarded shortly after delivering the fifth system in a row for the Snorre A platform.

According to the company, the monitoring solution will improve security and reduce the risk of production downtime or riser failure. At the same time, the installation will reduce operational costs, since the need for manual daily inspections of the risers, plus quarterly offshore mobilization of engineering personnel is eliminated.

Peter Jenkins, CEO of 4Subsea, said: “We are pleased that Statoil continuously trusts us to play an important role in maintaining secure and cost efficient production at their installations through the integrity management work we perform on flexible risers and flowlines.”

The monitoring solution is based on 4Subsea’s AMOS system, which analyses the condition, integrity and expected service life of the flexible risers. AMOS monitors the riser annulus diffusion rate, detecting early signs of riser failure, reducing risk and averting potential costly replacement of risers.

The contract also includes fully integrated control room equipment for measuring and trending condensation of liquid in the annulus vent gas at Snorre B, providing quicker response time and remote monitoring and trending from onshore.

Siemens is Statoil’s main provider of automation services on Snorre B, and 4Subsea has been working with Siemens on the integration of the monitoring system to existing infrastructure.

The Snorre B platform is part of the Snorre field located in the Tampen area of the Norwegian North Sea. The field has been producing oil and gas since August 1992 while the Snorre B came on stream in June 2001. This semi-submersible PDQ floater lies about seven kilometers north of the A platform.

Oil from Snorre B is piped for 45 kilometers to Statfjord B for storage and export. Part of the gas is injected back into the reservoir, while the rest is transported by pipeline via Snorre A to continental Europe through and to St. Fergus, Scotland.