Global Subsea Processing Market by Component 2003-2017

In recent years subsea processing systems have moved from concept to reality and for many operators are now firmly part of the field development toolkit. Expenditure on subsea processing systems is increasing rapidly and is expected to total some $5.1 billion over the 2008-2017 period. The prospect of improved recovery and production is driving operator uptake. so much so that in 2009 we could see as many seabed pumps installed as were installed in total over the 2003-2007 period.

These are amongst the results of the latest ‘Gamechanger’ study from energy analysts Douglas-Westwood Limited and oil & gas technology specialists OTM Consulting.

A $5.1 Billion Market
Addressing delegates at the SPE Subsea Processing Workshop in Stresa, Italy, Douglas-Westwood’s Oil and Gas Manager, Steve Robertson, announced the headline results of the study, which considers seabed boosting, separation, multiphase metering and wetgas compression systems. Steve commented, “Our base-case forecast projects that over the next decade expenditure on subsea processing could amount to over $5.1 billion. A total of 186 seabed boosting applications are expected to account for 61% of this 10-year total, in addition to 32 forecast separation systems, we expect 1,275 multiphase meters and 8 wetgas compressors. Africa is expected to be the leading regional market with a mid-range projected Capex of $1.4 billion over the 2008-2017 period, followed by Latin America ($1.2 billion), Western Europe ($1 billion) and North America ($936 million).”

Market Drivers Focused on Increased Production
George Trowbridge, Associate Director at OTM, remarked, “Again we have seen that the oil companies are continuing to embrace subsea processing. In previous years we have seen interest in subsea processing being driven primarily by a desire to increase production. In this latest edition, increasing production is still the main motivation for oil companies to use subsea processing but more firms are considering subsea processing as an enabling technology to help produce technically challenging fields (e.g. heavy oil).

More companies expect to become “subsea processors”
“In previous studies there was a steady rise in the number of firms expecting to use subsea processing, but firm plans to install had tended to be focused with a few “first movers”. In the latest study, almost all the oil companies interviewed expected to install subsea processing in the near future with every region expected to see some subsea processing activity in the short to medium term.

“Whilst the trend for firms to be more open to using subsea processing has continued, there is still some disparity between the extent to which firms are considering the technology. Where some firms are now actively considering subsea processing on every development as a matter of policy, there are still some are reluctant to consider this approach unless absolutely necessary.”