Danish Project to Optimise Offshore Oil Production

The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation has announced its subsidy to a project headed by Aalborg University endorsed by Maersk Oil and Ramboll Oil & Gas. The purpose of the project is to heighten production efficiency and increase oil recovery offshore. At the same time, the project will benefit the environment.

Oil recovery is a complicated process, and oil companies are already doing their utmost to minimise environmental impact. Today an oil production platform typically consists of many smaller, independent systems. The purpose of the project is to develop software based control systems, which will eliminate the weaknesses of the individual systems by making them work as one dynamic whole. This can ensure a better utilisation of the recovered oil, which in turn means higher productivity and less oil in the produced water.

Danish advanced technology can pave the way internationally

Bo Løhndorf, Senior Chief Consultant in Ramboll, thinks that the technology has a large potential:

”A process technology like this one, which can both increase productivity and reduce emission, has a great business potential both nationally and internationally. Ramboll Oil & Gas has a very ambitious growth strategy, where the continuous development of our competencies is very important, and I am looking forward to see the results of the project,” he says.

Ramboll endorses research

Project ”Plant-wide De-oiling of Produced Water using Advanced Control” (PDPWAC) will run for three and a half years, and has a budget of DKK 10 million; 5 million of which invested by The Advanced Technology Foundation. Ramboll supports the project with a pool of man-hours earmarked for providing sparring and know-how to the university team of researchers.

[mappress]

Press Release, December 18, 2012