Watch: Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at 820 Feet

The video above shows the official opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Statoil’s Åsgard subsea gas compression plant in the Norwegian Sea. The ribbon was cut in July at water depths of 250 meters (820 feet). 

This world’s first subsea gas compression system went on stream September 17.

Recovery from the Midgard reservoir on Åsgard will increase from 67 percent to 87 percent, and from 59 percent to 84 percent from the Mikkel reservoir. Overall, 306 million barrels of oil equivalent will be added, extending the reservoirs’ productive lives until 2032.

Traditionally compression plants are installed on platforms or onshore, but this plant is located in 300 metres of water. Moving the gas compression from the platform to the wellhead substantially increases the recovery rate and life of the fields. Prior to gas compression, gas and liquids are separated out, and after pressure boosting recombined and sent through a pipeline some 40 kilometres to Åsgard B.

In addition to improving recovery, subsea gas compression will be more energy efficient than the traditional topside solution. The technology reduces significantly energy consumption and CO2 emissions over the field’s life.