Model for economical analysis of oil and gas deepwater production concepts : Comparisons of life cycle cost of subsea production systems vs. floating structures with dry wellheads.

Abstract

The scope of the work was to create a model that will allow the comparison of Life Cycle Costs (LCC) for subsea production systems and floating structures with dry wellheads for the Mexican territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico. To give validity to the model, an empirical comparison on the resulting recovery factor based on data of the US Gulf of Mexico was included. This comparison is intended to answer ¿Is there a significant difference in the recovery factor when is used the dry tree vs. the wet tree concept solutions? The model proposed integrates a number of already published models done by academics, the industry and governments. Also, it was found that the activity in deep water offshore Mexico is having place in a region with an evident lack of preexisting infrastructure. Hence it is proposed in the model that new offshore structures shall have an added value for comparison purposes Two hypothetical projects (three different concepts for each project) of field development, based in public information released by PEMEX, are assessed. Conclusions and recommendations are made to increase the possibilities of feasible future field development and efficient depletion of the hydrocarbons located in Mexican deepwater.