DNV GL Prepares Subsea Facilities Report

The PSA has commissioned a new report on technological developments, incidents and future trends relating to subsea facilities.

The development of subsea technology, along with the increasing number of new entrants, and the increasing complexity of solutions for subsea installations on the NCS, has prompted the PSA to commission a study of:

• Degradation mechanisms and failure modes
• Developing and historical trends
• Methods for monitoring and integrity management
• Availability and sharing of incident-related information

The outcome of the study is a report dealing with these issues and the associated need for proper documentation and information exchange, in order to promote learning and reduce the level of risk, with the aim of operating subsea facilities fully in accordance with regulatory requirements.

More specifically, the study covered the following topics:

• Overview of the key trends in the development of subsea facilities
• Overview of the most serious incidents
• Relevant degradation mechanisms and failure modes
• The present state of knowledge and potential future risks
• Effects of degradation on robustness
• Future trends, developments and challenges
• Integrity management
• Inspection, maintenance and monitoring methodologies
• Initiatives for improvements and knowledge-sharing

The report is based on experiences from Norwegian petroleum activities and from the wider world.

The report was prepared by DNV GL and will be presented by them at the Subsea Facilities seminar on 25 March 2014.