www.csiro.au Subsea Pipelines Collaboration Cluster

1 Advancing our knowledge of Subsea pipeline technology to support the oil and gas industrySubsea Pipelines Collaboration ClusterFinal reportwealth From Executive summary4 Introduction to the Subsea Pipelines Cluster6 Training the offshore pipeline engineers of the future10 Scientific and engineering challenges12 Scientific outcomes of the Flagship Collaborative Cluster17 Putting the Cluster s research into practice21 Commissioning experimental equipment for ongoing pipeline testing in Australia28 Publications and dissemination34 Key papers46 Awards48 Keynote presentations, invited lectures and papers49 Hosting international conference ISFOG50 The Partners51 Flagship Collaboration fund12 Subsea pipeline Collaboration Cluster final reportExecutive summaryOffshore Subsea Pipelines are used to export oil and gas from the field to platform and then from the platform to the mainland.

2 As they are the sole conduit for the hydrocarbons their stability and integrity are of critical economic and environmental importance. More than 80 per cent of Australia s gas resources exist in deep, remote, offshore areas and being able to realise the full potential of these remote resources relies on the development of economically viable transportation solutions. Technical solutions for Australia s offshore Pipelines must maintain structural integrity and continuous supply of products across hundreds of kilometres of technology is also vital to Australia achieving the vision of platform free fields , a CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship initiative. Platform free fields research investigates ways to replace traditional oil and gas platforms with Subsea technologies for production of gas resources which may lie as far as 300 km offshore, at a depth greater than 1 km.

3 To address the challenges of providing technical solutions to the Australian oil and gas industry, six universities and CSIRO s Wealth from Ocean Flagship came together in 2008 to establish the Subsea Pipelines Collaboration Cluster . Its goal was to underpin the development of these hydrocarbon resources, by providing engineering solutions for the safe and economic design and operation of Subsea Pipelines in Australia s offshore frontiers. This research Cluster was enabled by a $ million grant through the CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund and in-kind contributions from the participating universities of $ million. Bringing together an integrated and multi-disciplinary team has been fundamental to the success of the Cluster has resulted in significant advances in the understanding of Subsea pipeline technology, 3including the development of state-of-the-art experimental equipment to test pipeline achievements include establishing new numerical models and software for analysing the stability of offshore Pipelines , novel methodologies for economic and safe pipeline design, and the commissioning of world-class experimental and pipeline testing facilities.

4 These have resulted in specialist testing and consultancy services being available to the offshore pipeline industry. The increased knowledge and understanding will contribute to CSIRO s own research in the areas of gas flow assurance and production. They are also publically available with the Cluster having published more than 160 manuscripts in international journal and conference proceedings. Results from the Cluster s research has already been incorporated into the next generation of Subsea natural gas projects such as the A$43 billion Gorgon project in north-west Western Australia that involves the development of the Greater Gorgon gas fields and a LNG plant on Barrow Island, near Karratha. Acting for clients BP, Chevron, Inpex and Woodside, testing facilities developed have also underpinned designs for Australia s future Pipelines to the Pluto, Wheatstone, Ichthys and Browse fields (off the north-west Western Australian coast) and in international projects offshore West Africa, Egypt and in the Caspian sea.

5 Research in the Cluster also formed part of a joint industry project sponsored by the six energy majors BHP Billiton Petroleum, BP, Chevron, Petrobras, Shell and Woodside, and administered by the Minerals and Energy Research Institute of Western Australia (MERIWA Project M395). The current boom in Australian oil and gas has caused a skills shortage in key engineering fields. It is therefore a key achievement that this Cluster has also trained 41 offshore engineers and researchers for the benefit of the offshore oil and gas industry through its PhD and postdoctoral programs. This will help underpin the future success of engineering in this area of national Cluster outcomes are helping to build future research priorities in CSIRO, the Universities and with industry partners in the areas of pipeline design and installation in Australian calcareous soil conditions and in deep water, geohazard risk assessment, use of automated underwater vehicles and in developing the vision of platform free fields in Australia.

6 Future activities, such as interactive workshops, will build on this successful collaborative report summarises the achievements of the Subsea pipeline Collaboration Cluster and its impact on the Australian and international oil and gas CSiro wealth of oceans Flagship Director Kate wilson (right), CSiro energy executive Bev ronalds (centre) and uwa Vice Chancellor alan robson (left) at the Cluster launchmark CassidyLeaderCSIRO Flagship Collaboration Cluster on Subsea PipelinesThe University of Western Australiaian CresswellActing DirectorCSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship4 Subsea pipeline Collaboration Cluster final reportIntroduction to the Subsea Pipelines ClusterBuilding a pipeline system to link an offshore oil and gas field to the mainland represents a huge capital investment. For example, in Australia the construction of the 42 inch 135 km pipeline for the Trunkline System Expansion Project (TSEP) on the North West Shelf in 2003/04 cost approximately A$800 million.

7 Today, the cost per kilometre of current pipeline projects, including the Gorgon (water depth: 1350 m length: 65 and 140 km), Scarborough (depth: 900m length: 280km), Pluto (depth: 830m length: 180km) and Browse (depth: 600m length: 5, 24 and 400km) is estimated to exceed $ million per kilometre. With over 2000km of Pipelines under design in Australia, capital expenditure is expected to exceed $10 more than 80 per cent of Australia s gas resources exist in deep, remote, offshore areas, our ability to realise their full potential relies on the development of economically viable solutions to transport them. Such technology is vital to Australia achieving the vision of Platform Free Fields, a CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship program. This research investigates ways to replace traditional oil and gas platforms with Subsea technologies for production of gas resources which are considered stranded off our coast in deep water and at long distances to land.

8 Under these conditions Subsea Pipelines are required to transport the gas over long distances to shore. Transporting hydrocarbons in extra long offshore Pipelines poses many challenges that must be considered when designing Pipelines . These include stability of pipeline structures over decades in strong currents, a shifting seabed and on steep seabed slopes. Assessment and mitigation of potential geohazards, such as submarine landslides, is also critical for the safe routing of Pipelines . The Subsea Pipelines Collaboration Cluster was established to meet these challenges and to deliver science-based engineering solutions for the safe and economic design and operation of Subsea Pipelines in Australia s deepwater frontiers. Research has focused on ultralong Pipelines from deepwater to shore, a critical goal of Platform Free Fields.

9 The CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund enables the skills of the wider Australian research community to be applied to the major national challenges targeted by CSIRO s National Research Flagship Program. As part of the $480 million provided over seven years by the Australian Government to the National Research Flagships, $115 million was allocated specifically to enhance Collaboration between CSIRO, Australian universities and other publicly funded research agencies. The Subsea pipeline Collaboration Cluster was initiated by the Wealth from Oceans Flagship to bring together a diverse range of research capabilities to deliver an in-depth scientific understanding of the key parameters involved in Subsea pipeline design, construction, long-term operation and monitoring. The three year program contributed to CSIRO s research program that aims to work with industry to develop the science and technology to unlock new opportunities in the exploration and development of Australia s offshore hydrocarbon resources.

10 The $ million Cluster included $ million from the Flagship Collaboration Fund and $ million in-kind contributions from the participating Subsea pipeline Collaboration Cluster combined the research capabilities of The University of Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology, The University of Queensland, Monash University, The University of Sydney, Flinders University and CSIRO through the Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship. From a start of 17 Chief Investigators the Cluster grew to eventually encompass 31 academic researchers and another 27 PhD and Masters Cluster on Subsea Pipelines ParticipantsSEABED CHARACTERISATION lead researcherProfessor Mark RandolphresearchersProfessor Liang ChengProfessor David WhiteProfessor Mark CassidyDr Itai EinavDr Pierre RognonDr Noel BoylanDr Hongxia ZhuPhD StudentsHan Eng LowZhihui YeYan YueHamed Mahmoodzadeh PoornakiSTRUCTURAL INTEGRITY lead researcherProfessor Mark CassidyresearchersProfessor Xiao-Ling ZhaoProfessor Jayantha KodikaraDr Faris AlbermaniDr Yinghui TianProfessor Mark RandolphProfessor David WhiteDr HongBo LiuDr Zhigang Xiao (until 2009)