OneSubsea secures pump deal for Shell’s Stones

OneSubsea has signed a deal to provide the subsea processing systems for Shell’s ultra-deepwater Stones development in the US Gulf of Mexico. The proposed 1,034-bar subsea pump system will be the industry’s deepest and most powerful to date.

The contract covers the supply of a dual pump station with two 3-MW single phase pumps and two subsea control modules, a topside power and control module, a barrier-fluid hydraulic power unit with associate spares and installation and maintenance tools, according to a company statement. OneSubsea is a joint venture between oilfield services giant Schlumberger and the Houston-based Cameron.

The system will be manufactured and tested in Norway, and ready for an expected tie-back to the Stones’ floating production, storage and offloading unit in early 2018. The floating unit is being constructed in Singapore by a joint venture of Japan’s Mitsubishi and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha Line, which bought out Holland’s SBM Offshore in July 2015 for $590 million. It is designed to have a processing capacity of 60,000 barrels of oil and 424,000 cubic metres (15 mcf) of gas per day, plus a storage capacity of 800,000 barrels.

The Stones field lies at a water depth of around 2,900 metres, roughly 320 kilometres offshore Louisiana. Shell holds a 100-percent interest in the project, which spans Walker Ridge blocks 507, 508, 509, 551, 552, 553, 596 and 597. The area is estimated to hold oil in place of around 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and 250 million barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable resources.