For our last post, I think it is important to show how pipelines are installed in the sea and subsea. As with all other posts, the focus area will be on the Arctic North region around Russia and Norway. Mentioned in post 2, Icebergs are just the tip of the… well… Iceberg. There are two major concerns with installing subsea pipes in this region; icebergs and diapirs. In this long blog post we will investigate current methods for installing pipelines and some proposed methods for installing pipelines in the more difficult regions of the Arctic North.

Introduction

The subsea pipeline industry over the past few years has developed and grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. There has been significant development towards safety of pipelines and reduction of costs for installation and maintenance. To meet new business challenges associated with larger water depth and with the transportation of aggressive and unprocessed fluids over long distances, the industry has responded with new pipeline concepts based on corrosive resistant materials, enhanced thermal performance and heating technologies (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). These methods are currently being qualified and successfully implemented around the Earth. Subsea pipelines will be a major building block in the development of gas and oil fields in the Arctic North and are considered to be efficient for transportation of oil and gas to offshore hubs, to onshore processing/storage facilities or into existing transport networks (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). Because of the harsh environment and the low temperatures in the High North there will be a need for additional pipeline requirements upon both fabrication/installation and operation which in turn means more costs. One other consideration for the project is the need for enforced steel materials and coatings able to resist low temperatures, pipeline systems in the High North have to be designed for potential load conditions caused by direct or indirect ice interaction (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014).

Current, Current, Current

Design, installation and operation of pipelines

There are a few pipeline standards and industry considerations that are currently being considered for the project. These include:

·         DNV-OS-F101 Offshore Standard – Submarine Pipeline Systems

·         ISO 13623 Petroleum and natural gas industries – Pipeline transportation systems

·         API RP 1111 Design, Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of Offshore Hydrocarbon Pipelines (Limit State Design)

(INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014)

The DNV-OSF101 offshore standard has been the top pick for the project at its current state. The DNV standard is intended to comply with ISO 13623. This means that the design format is based on risk and reliability principals, which are implemented based on defined limit states and corresponding partial safety factors. This standard gives recommendations for the design, materials, construction, testing, operation, maintenance and abandonment of pipeline systems used for transportation in the petroleum and natural gas industries (ISO, 2017).

How the pipeline is built while at sea is shown in the fun video below provided by Allseas.

Video can be found here: https://allseas.com/activities/pipelines-and-subsea/pipeline-installation/

This method of pipe laying is the S-lay. This would be used in the locations of 1, 2 and possibly 3. Shallow water is required so that there is not too much tension on the pipeline as it is being laid. The pipes can be between 2” and 48” diameters. This installation is preferred as it is faster than the J-lay method. The pipe is able to be welded, inspected, coated all aboard a pipe laying vessel, such as the one above (Allseas, 2019). The first step is to transfer the pipes to the floating factory. From there the pipes are preheated at the ends, then welded together for the first time. After that they are welded further and have a welding cap installed on the joints. The next step is to test the pipe for leaks with an automatic ultrasonic tester. This will make sure there are no issues in the before it is dropped into the ocean. The final step is to install a joint cap or a special coat that will ensure that the joints do not fall apart or rust from being in the water for long periods of time. As the boat moves forward, the pipe is laid behind it and placed on the seafloor. The next step is the digging of the ground and burying it underground.

Burying the pipes underground is critical in the Arctic North, as mentioned before, icebergs are able to destroy pipelines if they are above the scouring depth. How the pipe is buried underground is shown in the figure below.

Figure 1 – Rover installing sub-sea pipelines (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014)

The High North project is investigating the use of rovers to install the pipelines. This rover, would be digging underground, laying the pipe in the hole and then covering it at the same time. It will also be able to monitor possible diapirs that are around and avoid them should they be in the way. Additionally, they team will be developing a new system for monitoring iceberg drifting and sizes in the areas with the pipeline exists so that they can safely and effectively operate the oil rigs in extremely remote locations. There currently are no recognized iceberg sizes that can be used as a design load for wellheads, pipelines, process equipment and guidelines for design and handling of any incidents should they develop (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). They will be creating a new method to control the flow of icebergs as more and more will be moving due to climate change. The team considered multiple options during the installation process for the protection of pipelines in soft soils, where trenching is not possible. These areas may require additional resources such as concrete mats, which will help protect the pipelines from scouring and damage from icebergs. An image of the pipeline concrete mat is shown in figure 2 below.

Figure 2 – Concrete mattress on top of a pipeline (retrieved from OE digital)

Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR)

The final step of building pipelines is the inspection, maintenance and repair.. Because the location is remote with limited access, the project needs to be carefully planned. The system must be able to adopt or evolve to changes within minutes, should there be a leak to prevent from catastrophic failures. There will be a large delay between when a problem occurs and when the teams are able to respond, so mitigating the risks in the first place is critical to pipeline planning and installation. Currently, the large extent on pipeline installation is based on corrective maintenance, meaning they will fix a problem as they arise (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). This will not work in the Arctic north, as time may be as long as weeks before it can be fixed. There has always been a philosophy of limited number of sensors on the equipment because it has always been extremely costly, but the trend now is to increase the number of sensors and then the amount of information that is possible to retrieve from equipment (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). This will allow oil well operators to best monitor the slight changes in the environment and adapt to the climate. It, in turn, could possibly decrease the total damage to equipment and the threat to the environment. One key factor that the High North group is considering is the use of autonomy and computers to run systems. With computers, the system will be able run 24/7 and will require minimal labour. This means that there will be limited liability to human safety as there will be no humans on board or nearby. This is favourable not only to the company but also the humans, as there is a less threat to their lives.

The final consideration the team is looking at for the pipeline is the life extension of it or the abandonment. If it becomes economically feasible to lay pipeline in remote and challenging places, the current system will system will need to be modular and flexible. The High North project will be looking to standardization equipment, practices, communication and connection between the oil companies and the equipment vendors (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). This will help to keep all pipelines usable and extent life of them for many years. The expected typical design life today is 25 years, but the team is looking to extend the initial design life of the project even further.

Overall, the High North project will be an intense project with a multitude of factors to consider. The installation of the pipelines can be completed easily and with the development of new technologies, hopefully they can be installed easily into new Northern regions.

Thanks for reading my blog and hope you learnt lots!

Bibliography

Allseas. (2019). Pipeline Installation. Retrieved 03 13, 2019, from Allseas: https://allseas.com/activities/pipelines-and-subsea/pipeline-installation/

INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners. (2014). Russian – Norwegian Oil & Gas industry cooperation in the High North. Skoyen: INTSOK.

ISO. (2017). Petroleum and natural gas industries — Pipeline transportation systems. ISO.

Deep in the ocean,
Where the trees don’t grow.
Lays large mechanical pipes,
Where the humans don’t know.
Although these pipes are considered safe as can be,
Sometimes they explode, in the deep blue sea.

We need to consider the dangers that can occur,
Or everything we once knew can become a blur.
Drilling the precious resource known as oil.
Digging it up and burning it is causing the earth to boil.

There are many ways to dig this resource,
May it be through drilling or scouring,
We want to get all of this source.

To transport this item, we use boats and trucks,
But the most efficient method, is the use of pipes, to suck it up.
We lay these pipes, in the J, S and reel form
But each method, depends on how much each person is informed.
May the location be deep or shallow each method will work
But depending on the surroundings there may require a great amount of earthworks.
Some of the concerns are icebergs and bad weather
These problems can rip the pipes out of the ground as if they are as light as a feather

Overall, there is lots more to explore
In terms of ocean oil extracting, we can still explore a lot more

           There has been a long history of oil pipeline installation. Pipelines are one of the most cost efficient, most durable, reliable means of transporting oil from the depths of the ocean to oil refineries on land. The history of pipelines in Canada can be dated back to 1853, when a 25 km cast-iron pipe was moving natural gas to Trois Rivieres, QC (Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, 2019). Since then, Canada has built 119,000 km of underground transmission pipelines, able to reach from the west coast to the east coast and back again (Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, 2019). Submarine, or subsea pipeline production systems were introduced in 1942 when the English built a PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) that aided allied forces after their landings during D-day in France (O-lay, 2019). The first subsea pipelines and production systems that were used for offshore extraction in the oil and gas industry was not until the late 1960’s. Divers were used to lay the first pipelines  connecting the flow lines and umbilicals to the wells (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). Gradually, better methods for producing and installing pipes became available and underwater transport of pipes became more realistic. It was not until the early 1990s that production of pipelines on the seabed was an option (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). Due to high costs and minimal advancements in pipeline technology, it was not economically feasible to transport oil by pipes and he preferred method was by boat. Since then, vast quantities of hydrocarbons have been produced by the use of such systems and today subsea production systems are used in all corners of the offshore world, providing solutions to various types of field developments (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014).

           How pipelines are installed is a fascinating and interesting feat of engineering. As shown before in my previous  blog post, Icebergs are just the tip of the… well… Ice Berg, the challenges that need to be overcome can be brutal and ultimately project destroying – and sometimes fatal. Ever changing climates, rough weather and isolation are just a few of the factors that could potentially cause a pipeline to fall apart and at the worst case, explode. There are a multiple different ways that a pipeline can be installed but here is a list of the more common methods used today:

·         S-lay system

·         J-lay system

·         Reel-lay system

Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, with the J-lay system being popular in deep waters and the S-lay being popular in shallow waters.

S-lay system

           As it may sound, the s-lay system is due to the shape of the pipeline as it is being laid onto the seabed (Gerwick, 2007). The s-lay system consists of assembling the pipelines at the extraction site, for example the Barents Sea. This method is useful in shallow waters (>50m deep), as the tension created from assembling pipelines this way could be too high in deeper waters (50+m deep). As the pipe in being laid, the ground provides support so there is minimal tension on the pipe itself. This method is efficient and requires relatively little external support (Gerwick, 2007). This makes it quick and cheap for laying multiple pipes down in a small time frame. A diagram of how this system works is shown below.

Figure 1 – S-lay system pipeline installation (Gerwick, 2007)

J-lay system

As stated before, the J-lay system is more appropriate for deeper waters as it provides enough support for the pipe at the surface while still being able to lay it on the bottom. This method is more effective as it puts the pipe straight down, as shown in the figure below, to avoid sharp bending at the end of it and to mitigate excessive sag bending (Gerwick, 2007). This method would best be suited in the Barents Sea project as the sea can become deep as you travel further away from land. This method, however does require advance methods of automatic welding to lay the pipe as the boat is moving, costing much more than the s-lay system (Gerwick, 2007).

Figure 2 – J-lay system pipeline installation (Gerwick, 2007)

Reel-lay system

One of the final common methods is the Reel-lay system. The reel-lay system has the pipeline assembled onshore versus at sea with the pipeline being spooled onto a large drum (Gerwick, 2007). This method has its advantages over the other two methods, as there are no adverse effects due to climate and technical issues and can make the installation much cheaper (Gerwick, 2007). This method is limited to how much pipeline can actually be preassembled and the type of material that can be used. Due to the pipe being put on a reel, it must first be able to bend to the spool and then be able to deform back to its original shape. This can cause some issues to the pipe as it becomes damaged when installing and can cause the project to run even long than initially planned. A figure of this method is shown below.

Figure 3 – Reel system pipeline installation (Gerwick, 2007)

After the pipe is laid it must then be dug underground to protect it from shifting and swaying. How this is done will be explained in the next blog post.

Arctic North INTSOK Project

For the project in the High North, the cost will be in the billions. The closest extraction site, site 1, is approximately 250 miles away from the closest port. According to USAID, the approximate cost per mile is about $1.5 million (USAID, 2004). This includes, materials, labour, miscellaneous and right-of-way and damages. The cost just for the pipeline installation of site one could be approximately $375 million. The project still needs to survey the ocean, install oil rigs, continuously maintain the pipeline as it could be damaged. The approximate total cost for all the pipelines to be installed is approximately $5.5 billion. The figure below is used to help visualize the total cost of installing the pipelines for each site. The orange line represents the total cost over time if they were to accept each project location from the previous post.

Figure 4 – Total Cost of INTSOK pipeline installation

As we move further away from shore, the costs raises more rapidly. The cause for this is not only the distance but also other factors, such as ice berg removal and transportation of materials. Sites 1 and 2 represent the easiest most economically feasible extraction sites. The technology today already exists so that oil and gas can be extracted from here (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). As we move further away, new technologies will have to be invented and new extraction methods will have to be discovered in order to make sites 3 through 6 plausible as extraction sites. Because the cost of the project raises drastically as we move further away from the shore, the cost of installation may out weight the potential income. The location of each potential extraction site is in shown in the 6 images below.

Figure 5 – Top left is location 1, top right is location 2, left middle is location 3, right middle is location 4, bottom left is location 5 and bottom right is location 6

Global perspective on subsea and pipelines

           To end this long blog post, I want to leave you with some information on the pipeline industry and some information on how big global this industry is. The subsea industry is today a truly global industry with an industry activity level amounting to billions of dollars in turnover (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). INTSOK had put together a figure below to show the current and expected activity and investment levels for the subsea installation business.

Figure 6 – EP expenditure by continent (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014).

As the subsea pipeline business expands more and more, there will be a greater demand to move not only oil and gas through pipelines, but fresh water, internet cables, maybe even items. This industry could see an economic boom that could forever change how we move products around the world.

Next blog we’ll be looking at the processing of digging and best preparing the pipes for usage.

Bibliography

Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. (2019, February 14). How long has the pipeline industry been around? Retrieved from About Pipelines: https://www.aboutpipelines.com/en/pipeline-101/pipeline-history/, accessed on February 14^th, 2019

Gerwick, B. C. (2007). Construction of marine and offshore structures. New York: CRC Press, accessed on February 14^th, 2019

INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners. (2014). Russian – Norwegian Oil & Gas industry cooperation in the High North. Skoyen: INTSOK, accessed on February 14^th, 2019

O-lay. (2019, February 14). History. Retrieved from O-lay: http://www.o-lay.net/history-pipe-laying-technology, accessed on February 14^th, 2019

USAID. (2004). Natural Gas Value Chain: Pipeline Transportation. USAID, accessed on February 14^th, 2019

            Last post we looked at the two major snags that come from pipeline installation, icebergs and diapirs. This time we are going to look at how the engineers can best design, prepare and analyze the ocean floor to install the pipelines.

Before we take about the pipelines, we will give a bit more information and recap on the project itself. INTSOK, the name for the project, has broken down the sea into 6 potential extraction area, ranging from easy, short term extraction, too hard, long term extraction. Each extraction point is shown below.

Due to the large capital investment involved, the two countries broke down the area into 6 potential spots of extraction. These spots are further broken down into short term, medium term and long-term sites, with site 1 being easiest and cheapest option to site 6 being the hardest and most costly option. Short term extraction would be for the near future, up to the year 2025. Long term extraction would be for the distant future, 2050+. If the world begins to divest from oil dependency for example, through the use of electric cars, the demand for oil will fall and the extraction of the oil rich north will no longer be economically feasible.

To recap on the objectives of the project, the two countries want to;

“through industry cooperation and knowledge of Arctic technology needs, to contribute to the growth of the Russian and Norwegian industry participation in future petroleum endeavours in the High North (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014).”

This means, the two nations want to advance how we extract oil from the ground through technological advances. One of the outcomes of this endeavour is to assess the existing technologies, methods and best practices Russian and Norwegian industry can offer for the High North today and see how they can improve it (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014).

The subsea pipeline industry has developed significantly over the last two decades to meet new business challenges associated with larger water depth and with the transportation of aggressive and unprocessed fluids over long distances. In response to this, new pipeline concepts based on corrosive resistant materials, enhanced thermal performance and heating technologies have been qualified and successfully implemented. Subsea pipelines are expected to be a major building block in the development of gas and oil fields in the High North and are considered to be efficient for transportation of oil and gas to offshore hubs, to onshore processing/storage facilities or into existing transport networks (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). The harsh environment and the low temperatures in the High North will, however, force some additional pipeline requirements upon both fabrication/installation and operation. In addition to enforced steel materials and coatings able to resist low temperatures, pipeline systems in the High North must be designed for potential load conditions caused by direct or indirect ice interaction (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). Overall, the teams must develop and create new technologies to adopt to the ever-changing northern climates.

Next post will be a long post, looking at the history and costs of oil pipelines.

Bibliography

Gerwick, B. C. (2007). Construction of marine and offshore structures. New York: CRC Press.

INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners. (2014). Russian – Norwegian Oil & Gas industry cooperation in the High North. Skoyen: INTSOK.

As mentioned in the last post, Oil Pipes are what (link found here), Norway and Russia are working on something big; no, not anything bad – for now. Located in the Arctic North is approximately 22% of the world’s undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). Big Oil = Big Money. 1/5 of the world’s oil is trapped in north. That’s a lot. The biggest problem for these countries is how harsh the area is. Extremely cold temperatures, sea ice, darkness, remoteness and may other problems pose a particular issue when trying to extract these resources. There are two major problems that need to be overcome; icebergs and diapirs.

Before we get into the issues, let’s give a little more background on the particular area of interest for these countries, the Barents Sea. Located waaaaaay up north, further north than the Arctic Circle, is the Barents Sea. Shown in the image below, this sea is surrounded by mainland Norway and Russia with a few of their territorial islands in the upper part.  

The Barents Sea is extremely variable and is home to a rugged bottom topography due to ice berg scouring the area (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). On average, the shelf depth is about 250 m, reaching maximum depths of around 400–500 m (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). Closer to the shore, the water depth is shallow, ranging from 20-60 m in depth. This makes the area much more enticing to survey, extract and produce oil, as it requires A LOT less energy and material. The figure below illustrates the depth of the Barents Sea.

            Now on to the first major issue, icebergs. Icebergs can destroy pipelines and make it extremely difficult to repair them. The ice berg will scrape and push soil into and around the pipeline. To fix this, engineering’s need to dig deep enough to avoid this issue. An example of how to achieve this is shown in the diagram below.

There is one problem with digging into the soil though, is that problem is diapirs. Diapirs are ‘underwater bombs’ waiting to explode. These overpressure zones, also known as diapirs, are made up of frozen ice grounds and related gas accumulations with abnormally high formation pressure (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). These diapirs form due to the permafrost that is located in the area. Data on the shelf of the Barents Sea suggests that there are subsurface overpressure zones with accumulations of gas and gas hydrates or known as diapirs (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). A diagram is shown below.

As said before, diapirs are small bombs just waiting to explode. This is a major engineering risk for the exploitation of oil and gas deposits. While digging, these diapir could explode and damage any surveying equipment or extraction tools. Ultimately, it could be the same results as Deep-Water Horizon from the earlier post… Boom.

            So, the morel of this week’s post – preparation. The engineers and surveyors need to do a lot of preparation in order to best prepare for the disasters that could occur. Next week we are going to investigate the pipeline installation processes and how-to best design, prepare and create pipelines that can best with stand the Arctic North.

Bibliography

Gerwick, B. C. (2007). Construction of marine and offshore structures. New York: CRC Press.

INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners. (2014). Russian – Norwegian Oil & Gas industry cooperation in the High North. Skoyen: INTSOK.

TLDR: Oil pipes are dangerous but are being used more as conventional methods of oil and gas retrieval are no more. Ocean extraction is becoming the new norm.

Did you turn on your lights this morning? Heat your home? Drive to work? These actions all use petroleum products. Every year Canadians consume up to 108 billion liters of refined petroleum products (Government of Canada, 2018). Do you know where this petroleum comes from? Deep underground you say? Well you might be more surprised when I tell you that almost 20% of your petroleum comes from the oceans. Believe it or not, about 20% of the total crude oil production in North America comes from the Gulf of Mexico (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2018). How do we get oil from the ocean to your car? The answer is simple – pipes.

There are thousands of kilometers of submarine pipes are being used daily. These pipes transport raw material directly from the depths of the ocean to either an oil platform or to an oil refinery on land. These are complex systems with multiple protective measures in place to protect from potential ‘oil spills’. Occasionally these pipelines… well… explode…

Okay, okay. You say that isn’t a picture of a pipeline. BUT, the explosion of the pipeline underwater caused the oil rig itself to explode. These problems can be mitigated and ultimately should never happen in the first place but with poor maintenance and pipeline regulations, pipeline health seems to have slipped through the cracks – to put it nicely.

As the easy sources of oil and gas become more sparse, governments are looking for the next big thing. Canada currently extracts oil and gas by separating it from ‘sand’ but with the drop of oil and gas prices worldwide, these extraction practices become expensive and no longer economically feasible. Norway, one of the world’s leaders in oil and gas extraction from off shore methods, uses pipelines all the time to extract the black gold from the Earth. Currently, Norway and Russia are investigating the potential to recover oil and gas resources from the untouched Arctic. They predict that the Arctic contains approximately 22% of the world’s undiscovered, technical recoverable oil and gas resources (INTSOK – Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners, 2014). These countries are currently exploring the potential to develop this region and looking at the cost versus benefits of extracting this resource.

If you are wondering how these government plan to move thousands of barrels of raw oil and gas hundreds of kilometers through desolate, cold, icy terrain, you guessed it. Pipes. One of the key principles of investigating the arctic north is the construction of ‘pipelines and sub sea installation’. They have come up with a ‘small’ list of key characteristics for operation and installation of pipelines in the Arctic and here is the dot-jot version of it:

• Low temperature,
• Icing,
• Remoteness,
• Darkness,
• Sea ice,
• Polar lows,
• And visibility.

I know, I know. You think. These seem like pretty big things when installing pipelines in the arctic, with, for example, temperatures reaching as low as -60°C but rest assured, it still is possible.

                Return next week and we will investigate who, what, where, when, why and how these governments plan to conquer the Arctic North and what’s in store for oil pipe installation.

For more information on oil pipe installation investigate here:

1. Longest Installed undersea pipeline completed
2. Multi-billion dollar pipeline projects battle to stay on track
3. NRCAN – Petroleum Facts
4. Off shore Oil in the USA
5. Later instability and tunnel erosion
6. Russian – Norwegian Oil and Gas Industry cooperation in the High North
7. Prediction of pipeline scour depth
8. Scour Protection of Underwater pipelines
9. Submarine Pipeline Systems
10. Global offshore pipeline construction service market
11. Identify the submarine cable route off of Campania Islands
12. Guidelines for offshore environmental monitoring
13. Trench of the environmental supervision on submarine pipeline installation