Buoyant Production Technologies Ltd. (BPT) announced Friday its pioneering Floating Normally Unattended Installation (NUI) design has moved closer to commercialization by collaborating with Siemens Energy AS. According to the update, both companies will jointly market and deliver the units. NUI has the potential to unlock smaller and deep-water reservoirs economically.
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An innovative Floating NUI Design
BPT, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Crondall Energy Ltd, announced today its floating NUI design is closer to commercialization thanks to a partnership with Siemens Energy AS. In a press release, the company said both companies would jointly market and deliver the units, which have the economic potential to unlock deep-water reservoirs in offshore assets.
According to the announcement, this partnership will focus on compact NUIs for the development of offshore oil and gas fields in deep-water locations. Siemens Energy will be in charge of facilitating a low lifecycle cost solution to BPT.
As shared by both companies, the Floating NUI design can make projects economically viable and reduce the carbon footprint compared with traditional offshore facilities. With an increasing focus on the environmental impact of oil and gas projects, and the uncertainty surrounding commodity prices, this technology offers a robust development solution.
Siemens Energy AS and BPT have already been working together for the past two years through the Oil and Gas Technology Centre’s ‘Facility of the Future’ study. This research develops and matures Floating NUI technology.
In this collaboration, BPT brings its proprietary designs. Siemens Energy AS provides the digital hardware and software necessary to enable remote control and operation for an asset’s lifecycle duration.
BPT and Siemens on collaborating
Duncan Peace, Managing Director, Buoyant Production Technologies, said in a public statement: “Signing this collaboration agreement with Siemens Energy represents a major step in bringing our Floating NUI technology to the market. The use of Siemens Energy’s innovative data and digital solutions offshore has enabled us to develop designs with new operational models and design philosophies compared with traditional offshore facilities.”
“BPT has been working with Siemens Energy for the past two years to maximize the value offered by today’s technologies. Given the step change impact our designs have on both lifecycle costs and carbon footprint, we believe the Floating NUI technology is the development solution of the future, and we look forward to working with Siemens on delivering that future,” Peace added.
Richard Harvey, Global Sales Lead for Offshore Production, Siemens Energy, also pointed out: “We are excited to sign this agreement with BPT. Through our work to date, we have been able to showcase the value of our digital solutions to offshore developments, and we are looking forward to working with BPT in delivering digitally-enabled Floating NUI projects in the future.”
Buoyant was established in 2018 by Crondall Energy to develop offshore facilities that use digital technologies to reduce HSSE risks and minimize lifecycle costs.
Central to the concepts’ patented designs are the next features:
- Slender “hull” structure and integrated (buoyant) “deck box.”
- Open deck for topside process equipment and personnel access
- Deck box housing power generation and utilities
- Standardized and scalable topsides and remote monitoring solution
- Minimal motions, enabling deployment in harsh environments
The Floating NUI series includes:
- Production Buoy: A standalone production facility for smaller deep-water developments.
- Power & Control Buoy: Providing well-site services to enable subsea developments such as long-range/complex gas and oil tiebacks.
