Aker, Total Team-Up on Subsea Technology Development

Norwegian oilfield engineering firm Aker Solutions ASA and France's Total S.A. announced Tuesday that they have agreed to work together to develop new, cost-effective subsea field technology. They said that the initial four-year technical collaboration agreement will build on earlier cooperation between the two companies in developing technologies. 

During its first year the partnership aims to explore a wide range of issues, including further evolution of subsea processing and compression systems to boost cost-efficiency of deepwater gas production, development of electric subsea controls and optimization of flow-measurement technologies. Aker said that further development of the collaboration will be defined over the next few months.

Aker has worked with Total in the past on several subsea projects, including the Kaombo and Dalia field developments in Angola and Moho Nord in Congo-Brazzaville. The firms have worked together to solve specific project challenges, including subsea boosting solutions and subsea plant for deepwater application as part of 

Aker Chief Technology Officer Hervé Valla commented in a company statement:

"This joint effort reinforces our common interest in finding more effective solutions to maximize value from subsea field developments. It allows us to work more closely with Total to solve technical challenges faced by the industry today and to reduce the time needed to bring subsea technology to the market."

The oil and gas industry as a whole is striving to develop subsea technologies and solutions that will significantly reduce the cost of deepwater projects. This includes Statoil and GE Oil & Gas, which have been pursuing the holy grail of a "subsea factory". Statoil believes that subsea processing solutions such as compact separation facilities on the seabed will be one of the keys to success in Arctic areas and deepwater zones in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Brazil.