Subsea Emergency Response System (SERS): Optimised Response for Subsea Production Well Incidents in the Gulf of Guinea

Abstract

Abstract As a major operator of subsea wells, the technological risks associated with the production phase of deepwater wells was a focus of efforts in the post-Macondo era. Shortly after this catastrophic incident, Total launched a number of in-house initiatives and in parallel joined several industry projects. Among its own, in-house initiatives, Total created the Subsea Emergency Response System Project (SERS), in order to develop and supply tools for use if an intervention was required in response to an uncontrolled hydrocarbon leak on a Total production subsea well. The SERS Project has now progressed significantly and is about to deliver its first set of tools to its operating affiliates in the Gulf of Guinea. This set of tools can be split into two systems:A Dynamic Killing System, capable of injecting fluids through the subsea Xmas tree choke interface,A Diverter System, which can be connected on top of each subsea Xmas tree for capping or diverting a leak. The SERS Project is considered to be a significant advancement of the response capability for Totals affiliates. The design, fabrication and placement of a capping and diversion response in the Gulf of Guinea region, where Total has its greatest concentration of subsea wells, is a major improvement of Total's capability to intervene should a subsea problem arise. The new concept of a capping and diversion system adapted directly to the constraints of a blowout on a subsea production well is an industry first. The flexibility inherent in the design provides a solution that is adaptable to various types of well kill, horizontal or vertical Xmas trees, compatible with numerous installation workover control systems and is even adaptable to a well control incident on a drilling BOP. This paper describes these two systems and the deployment strategy developed by Total to minimize the consequences of a subsea hydrocarbon leak during the production phase. Introduction Total is a major operator of deepwater subsea wells worldwide and particularly in the Gulf of Guinea region. Total operates around 250 subsea wells in 2014, a number which will rise to around 1000 in 10 years time with the arrival of numerous deepwater projects. In this respect, Total has an exposure to well control events not only linked to the drilling of these subsea wells, a period which lasts just a few weeks, but also to the production phase which clearly lasts for many years.