Shrinking the depths

If installing oil and gas hardware at water-depths of 2,000 metres or more is slow and costly, why not raise the seabed? In April, a small Norwegian company carried out trials of a facility that, in effect, does just that, Martin Quinlan writes

IN THE US Gulf of Mexico (GoM), gas is flowing from the Camden Hills field lying under 2,195 metres of water. Off Brazil, oil flows from the Roncador field at a water-depth of 1,850 metres. In Africa's Gulf of Guinea, the Girassol field is flowing oil from a water-depth of 1,400 metres. Developments in yet-deeper waters are being planned in all three of the world's main deep-water provinces - but at great cost. Shell and BP will have spent $1.26bn on their multi-field Na Kika development, when it comes on stream through a semi-submersible platform in GoM waters later this year. In the Gulf of Guinea, recently launched developments using floating production, storage and offloading vessels cos