Reducing time in subsea development will be key to keep pushing energy transition; particularly on the upstream sector. During the technical panel, “Subsea Innovation and Digital Strategies for the Energy Transition”, during the Offshore Technology Conference, experts and CEO’s discussed the pathways for the transition.
Firstly, the main subject of the discussion, in which CEOs and executives from major companies participated; was how does the energy transition is changing the landscape for upstream activities; particularly subsea.
Secondly, there was a broad agreement on the fact that indeed energy transition is making upstream projects less attractive; however, a full transition towards cleaner energies will take time and resources; and oil and gas businesses will actually be the capital engine for the transition.
Thirdly, in such regard spoke Ajay Mehta, Delivery Manager at Shell. “We are not scared by the transition; we want to thrive from it. That’s why we launched the Powering Progress strategy; which aims at reducing our oil business towards gas; and of course, development of carbon capture and storage solutions.”
Moreover, Keith Magowan, Central Subsea Unit Leader at Bp, commented. “Oil and gas is the engine that will fund the transformation; it is the core business. However, we need to bring down costs and risks related to upstream; particularly subsea; and to do that, digital is key.” For Magowan, digital strategies would help companies and operators to make subsea activities reliable, predictable; consequently, to squeeze the most profits out of it, with the lowest risks.
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Reducing time, but also green design and carbon capture, essential for lowering carbon footprints
In addition, Blake DeBerry, CEO, Dril-Quip, Inc. commented that, a key strategy to bring down costs and risks, is not standardization of components and materials; but reducing time development. “At our company we deliver a solution called Green-by-design; which aims at reducing the overall carbon footprint of an offshore development, through the materials and development time reduction”.
He also added. “A 10% reduction in time, and a 10% reduction in capital have the same impact on breakeven for the operator. This means that time is equal as valuable as capital. Through bringing down the development time, we’ve been able to avoid around 1000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.”
On the other hand, Neil Saunders, CEO of Oilfield Equipment for Baker Hughes agreed on this; but also added that increasing investment on carbon capture, also pushes forward the energy transition on the sector; plus, supplier-led solutions, like the implementation of digital systems, create a unique platform from which subsea developers can leverage energy transition and reduce their carbon footprint.
Finally, the executives talked briefly about carbon capture; as companies keep pushing investments on the matter, carbon capture becomes a top choice for upstream developers; however, the solutions is still costly and need to achieve scale, before it can make a huge impact.
