ADVANCED OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION AND
PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES FOR ARCTIC CONDITIONS
Slavko Nešić1, Dragan Govedarica2, Konstantin Pivovarov3, Anatoly
Zolotukhin3, Vlada Streletskaya3
University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 1, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, slavko.nesic@nis.eu
1
2Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Bulevar cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
3Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University), Leninsky prospect 65, Moscow, Russia
ABSTRACT
The future trends of oil and gas industry are heading to the Arctic region characterized with
long winters, low mean temperatures, permafrost and ice cover. Current projects of oil and
gas production are operated at temperatures from -20°C to -60°C and all offshore structures
must withstand at these extreme conditions. Commonly used construction materials like
stainless steel and concrete can change their mechanical properties at low temperatures and
become more brittle, which can lead to fracture generation and equipment failure.
Overcoming the Arctic harsh environmental conditions requires innovative technologies in
crude oil production and processing. All applied technologies in Arctic region must be
efficient, reliable and environmentally-friendly. In this paper oil and gas production and
processing aspects were analyzed with the emphasize to the Arctic conditions. The existing
technologies are reviewed and discussed for application in the Arctic environment.
Additionally, guidelines and improvements for future projects are discussed and analyzed.
INTRODUCTION
Current trend of oil and gas industry moves into deeper Arctic waters. Exploration activities
in the Arctic region showed a huge hydrocarbon potential of northern offshore areas. Drilling
and production in the Arctic presents technological, infrastructural and environmental
challenges with high pollution risks. During the last decade interest for development in those
areas is increasing. Arctic offshore global oil and gas production forecast from 2000–2040 is
shown in the Figure 1.
Figure 1. Arctic offshore global oil and gas production forecast from 2000–2040
Offshore operations in the Arctic zone are under the harsh weather conditions. Ice is present
almost during whole year in a form of layers, icebergs, ridges etc. Offshore structures must
withstand at those conditions and need to be reinforced. Floated structures are recommended
in ice free waters while in ice infested waters ice management plan is needed. Technical
accessibility of the Arctic is shown in the Figure 2.
Figure 2. Technical accessibility of the Arctic
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TECHNOLOGICAL ACCESSIBILITY OF ARCTIC OIL AND GAS
RESOURCES
The exploration of the Arctic is extremely technically challenging. Selecting an optimum
drilling method is a function of several conditions including field size, geological conditions,
water depth, distance to the shore and weather conditions. A review of accessibility
technologies for Arctic conditions is shown in the Figure 3.
Figure 3. Accessibility technologies for Arctic conditions
PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES
Oil and gas production and processing technologies in the Arctic will mainly depends from
the distance from the shore. Near shoreline fields (<15 km) can be developed with extended
reach wells from the shorelines, from artificial island, gravity-based structures (GBS) or with
tunnel technology. Produced fluids are transported to the shoreline and processed. Offshore
fields far away from the shore (>15 km) in shallow waters (up to 25m) can be developed with
GBS or from artificial island. Produced fluids can be transported with subsea pipelines or
tankers to the shoreline and processed. Offshore fields in the deep-water zone can be
developed with floating or semisubmersible platforms or FPSO if there is no ice presence. In
deep-water ice -covered zones the only way to develop petroleum resources is building a
subsea modules or with ice breaker FPSO. Production and processing technologies for the
Arctic conditions are shown in the Figure 3.
Figure 4. Production and processing technologies for the Arctic conditions
CONCLUSION
Arctic possess significant oil and gas resources both offshore and onshore. Many factors
including harsh weather conditions, presence of ice cover and limited infrastructure contribute
to cost of exploration and development of Arctic oil and gas fields. Currently, a small number
of existing offshore structures are available for operations in the Arctic conditions.
Construction cost of Arctic – class offshore structures are up to 2 billion of USD. Further
development of the Arctic petroleum resources will strongly dependent from new
technologies for safe production and processing in harsh environment. In next decade, the
industry should undergo to the advances through technological breakthrough and extending
the operations in regions, which are currently inaccessible. Beside the development of new
technologies, a number of ports (multipurpose hubs) must be developed for logistic, storage
and emergency response purpose.
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