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Offshore oil and gas operations, an ever-changing market
Rising oil prices and successive technological advances in offshore oil and gas operations have paved the way for the exploration and development of new fields that now offer a viable return.
New oil and gas structures
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Surface structures
To meet the new needs of the oil companies, new surface structures are appearing regularly (e.g., stationary rigs, tethered semi-submersible rigs) pushing further the depth of production. The most recent and efficient units today are FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) - new generation floating oil and gas platforms.
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Subsea structures
The different subsea structures (well heads, manifolds, etc.) are connected from the sea bed to surface supports through pipelines and control umbilicals.
The pipelines send the oil up to the surface structure or are used to inject gas and water to keep the reservoir under pressure.
The umbilicals are used to control the different subsea structures.Due to the geometry and the depth of the offshore oilfields, and to the increase in oil prices, expenditures by the oil companies have increased sharply since 2004.
The appearance of new needs
Over the years, surface and subsea structures have developed and matured, thus leading to the appearance of new needs in terms of inspection, maintenance and repair, the so-called IMR services, requiring dedicated means.
In the case of deepwater subsea structures, these operations cannot be conducted by human beings owing to the deepwater pressure. Thus Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) have to be used to carry out these operations successfully.
In this context, BOURBON has expanded its range of services to meet the needs of oil and gas clients seeking contractors that can control all IMR services and that can provide the resources and personnel for both surface and subsea operations.