The circular Sevan Piranema oil rig is the fantastic idea that no one believed in but which will soon be producing at full strength on the Piranema field off the coast of Brazil.
The first time we met the then DNV employee Arne Smedal, he had just constructed a griddle cake counter for his uncle, who was a griddle cake baker. Now, more than 30 years later, he – together with his colleagues in Sevan Marine – is responsible for an epoch-making invention for the floating production and storage of oil and gas (FPSO). The circular Sevan Piranema FPSO is ready for the Brazilian Piranema field.
“As soon as we had decided to build the unit on spec and started to cut the steel, interested parties appeared. Petrobras leased the first unit for a period of 11 years, with options to extend this period,” Arne Smedal explains.
Five UNITS in the pipeline
Now, only five years after the start in 2001, there are five of these unique Sevan units either in operation, under construction or at the planning stage.
SSP Piranema (Sevan 300) – which has a storage capacity of 300,000 barrels – is an FPSO with the capacity to process and treat 30,000 barrels of oil and 3.6 million standard cubic metres of gas per day. The unit is approximately 60 metres in diameter and has accommodation quarters for 60 employees. The Piranema field lies 40 km north-east of Brazil, in waters that are 2,000 metres deep.
The next unit in the pipeline has the same dimensions and is also a Sevan 300. This unit will also process around 30,000 barrels per day, and, in addition it has the equipment required to process and reinject water into its wells at approximately 20,000 barrels of water. This unit will operate on a 30-month contract with UK company Venture Production on the Chestnut field in the North Sea. Chestnut is one of approximately 150 small fields with a reserve of less than 20 million barrels, until now the lower limit for commercial exploitation.
Unlocking marginal discoveries
“This is an important strategic field, in which the Sevan technology makes it possible to unlock marginal discoveries,” says Arne Smedal.
Despite small reserves, the cost benefits of the Sevan technology provide good profitability. This unit will be finished in 2007 and is being built by the Chinese Yantai-Raffles yard, which is also building hulls for a third unit in the same series. Yet another one is being built at the Hantong yard in China. For this, Sevan has entered into an option agreement for a ten-year contract for operation in the North Sea. Here the process facility will be designed to treat heavy oil.
The Sevan technology has proven to have several areas of application. The company has already developed a drilling unit. It will be able to drill in water depths of 3,600 metres. This unit is equipped for dynamic positioning and will have a large deck capacity. In addition to the large deck load, the unit can also store 200,000 barrels of oil and is prepared for test production. The unit has already won a six-year contract with Petrobras for operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We look on this too as an extremely important strategic contract for the use of the technology in the Gulf of Mexico area. Not least with regards to gaining experience in the wind, waves and other Gulf conditions. This unit will be in operation as from 2009,” claims Arne Smedal.
Floating power plant
He confirms that Sevan also has other ideas in the pipeline. There is a considerable chance that the unit will be used as a floating 450-540 megawatt gas-fired power plant, located offshore at the production site.
It is the Sevan units’ great carrying capacity that enables the installation of power plants of this size. The unique advantage of the unit is that it is circular so that it does not need a swivel and turret, which are necessary for most ship-based solutions and traditional FPSOs.
“We’ve also looked at terminal solutions for LNG, LPG and possibly gas under pressure, so-called PNG,” says Arne Smedal.
He is no novice in the world of inventions. As the son of a blacksmith in inland Norway, and as a young boy, he was used to being in his father’s forge creating a lot out of nothing. The kids made their own toys, and he gives his upbringing most of the credit for his accomplishments later on.
“My father allowed us to do a lot at an early age, and there was nothing he couldn’t make. This taught us to think creatively and constructively. We became solution-oriented,” he concludes.
Sparring partners
Arne Smedal studied at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim, where he met Kåre Syvertsen, who has since been a friend, colleague and his closest sparring partner in the development of new technology.
Kåre Syvertsen is the stronger of the two on theory and refines Arne’s creative thoughts and ideas. With this interaction between what is more or less a left-hand and a right-hand cerebral hemisphere, supplemented by Jan Erik Tveteraas who takes care of finances, the trio are at the forefront of a company that has already secured a place in oil history.