Think offshore production can be profitable in a cyclical oil and gas market? Aker BP does. And so does Siemens Energy.
In fact, Aker BP's bold publically stated objective is to drive production costs to US$7 per barrel. On the Ivar Aasen Field Development project Siemens worked closely with Aker BP to implement condition monitoring—a data-driven approach to optimizing equipment maintenance schedules, and ultimately, to reducing costs.
Instead of monitoring critical equipment from a North Sea platform, Aker BP personnel monitor it from an onshore control room in Trondheim, Norway, 1,000 km away. A unique process known as time-stamping, as opposed to the more conventional sampling, enhances the accuracy of the acquired machine data, better positioning crews to predict and preempt any maintenance issues.
The net result? Fewer personnel working on the remote offshore platform for extended periods, not to mention traveling to and from the jobsite via helicopter, and a significant OPEX savings.
