TUV SUD NEL, the flow measurement R&D specialist, has launched a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to fill a knowledge gap in the oil & gas industry’s use of online oil-in-water analysers to help optimise oil and gas recovery.
In its quest to optimise production and recovery, the oil & gas industry is increasingly considering unmanned and subsea separation systems, which require accurate oil-in-water measurement for compliance monitoring of produced water. However, regulatory standards, relating to oil-in-water measurement and reporting for subsea discharge, do not currently exist.
The JIP will deliver a new set of regulatory requirements for subsea produced water discharges, as well as guidance for the acceptance of using online oil-in-water analysers for unmanned and subsea applications. It will also create a new set of validation criteria for the use of oil-in-water analysers for reporting purposes. This will help operators to optimise their production process, maximising the efficiency of oil and gas recovery and reducing operational costs.
Dr Ming Yang , Environmental Consultancy Services Manager at TUV SUD NEL, said: “ With an ever-increasing emphasis on maximising oil and gas recovery and cost-effective production, there is a growing interest in the development of unmanned and subsea separation systems. However, produced water discharge would not be possible without reliable online oil-in-water analysers, and no industry-wide reporting and compliance guidance currently exists. This JIP already has the support of three major operators as it will fill that knowledge gap, update existing guidance, and make the use of these produced water discharge analysers for reporting purposes a reality for the industry .”
Guidance for the use of online oil-in-water analysers was first developed in 2005, with manned installations in mind, and was not verified in the field. It is intended that the JIP’s research work will enable the existing online oil-in-water analyser guidance, from OSPAR, BEIS and Norsk Olje & Gas 085, to be updated and improved.