Identification of criteria for selection of arctic offshore field development concept

• Main Author: Gordeeva, Tatiana
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Stavanger, Norway 2013
• Subjects: offshore teknologi; concept selection; arctic development; concept development; VDP::Technology: 500::Marine technology: 580::Offshore technology: 581; Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/183099

Master's thesis in Offshore Technology When the decision to study the development of an offshore field is taken, the concept phase of an offshore project development starts. The concept phase consists of the concept screening, conceptual engineering and concept selection stages. While concept screening and conceptual engineering stages represent a specific sequence of engineering calculations to determine technical feasibility and all aspects of each possible development concept for an offshore field, the concept selection stage represents a decision making process where a lot of factors should be considered in order to identify the optimal concept which satisfies all technical, economic and safety requirements along others. According to recent tendency in oil and gas industry, the Arctic offshore area has a great potential for future field developments. However high ecological risks, challenging environment for operation and construction as well as requirements for huge money investments impose accessorial liability on decisions taken in the early phases of the project and especially in the selection of the optimal development concept. The purpose of the thesis is concretization of the Concept selection process for Arctic offshore field development. Identification of the possible criteria influencing the definition of the optimal development concept is carried out. Prioritizing of each criterion according to its importance in the Concept selection process is then performed. Attention is given to the main Arctic specifics and challenges that could affect the field development concept. On the basis of this analysis the concept screening and the conceptual engineering steps for Arctic projects are discussed. The main driving factors for qualifying the development concept are defined. Their effects on the development concept in the Arctic are then considered. In the second part the Concept selection process for the Arctic offshore field development is considered. Criteria influencing the concept selection process ...