"We see tremendous potential for boosting the value added by drilling and production through extending the application of new and advanced eOperation systems," declared senior vice president Ăystein Michelsen when Norwegian oil and energy minister Thorhild Widvey officially opened Hydros operations HQ at Sandsli outside Bergen on Tuesday 6 September.
By employing eOperation, Hydro has developed one of the most comprehensive offshore operational HQs in the world.
Petroleum and Energy Minister Widvey today inaugurated the Operations HQ that will be serving a large number of Hydroâs production platforms and drilling rigs.
The HQ currently comprises an interactive room for the Oseberg Ăst and Brage platforms, two of the three rigs drilling production wells on Troll, plus a separate room for monitoring compressors, turbines and offshore pumps.
Profitable
âWe see tremendous potential for boosting the value added by drilling and production through extending the application of new and advanced eOperation systems. The greatest gains can be achieved by more efficiently utilizing the capacity of chartered rigs, bringing wells on stream again quickly after stoppages, and by reducing downtime on rotating equipment such as turbines and compressors,â adds Michelsen.
All in all, Hydro reckons that there is potential for boosting added value by NOK 400-600 million if eOperation is implemented across all the companyâs NCS activities. The main bulk of the additional gains can be ascribed to greater revenues.
Successful pilots
Brage and Oseberg East have both run eOperation pilot projects. The interactive room linking the two unitsâ land-based and offshore organizations, along with new working methods, have already been beneficial towards extending the lifetimes of the two fields.
The Operations HQ links platforms and rigs with Hydroâs land-based organization, and the technology also allows supplier companies to be connected. Distance is no longer an obstacle.
New ways of working
âeOperations have changed the way we work,â says Trond Lilleng, the driving force behind the Sandsli Operations HQ.
Tasks previously carried out offshore can be brought ashore. Experts located in Hydroâs land organization, or at suppliers, have the opportunity to monitor offshore operations much more closely than previously.
âWe can share tasks in new ways, and transfer decision-making processes from the platform to the land-based expert milieux,â he adds.
Data from current North Sea operations is available on land as soon as it is registered by the offshore instrumentation, and the interaction room allows offshore crews to discuss matters with colleagues on shore via the video conference system.