Utilization of specialized vessel for selective offshore services - a feasibility study

Abstract

This master ́s thesis is based on a case study with the main objective of evaluating the feasibility of a new concept, and further to assess whether the concept may have been a preferred solution among customers. The concept suggests that operations related to delivery of equipment to offshore installations in the North Sea, in addition to retrieval of waste from them, could be solely dependent on a specialized vessel. In order to determine the feasibility, both qualitative and quantitative analyzes have been conducted. The feasibility of the concept is dependent on technical aspects, as well as the amounts of equipment the vessel would have needed to supply to the various fields and the amounts of waste it would have needed to retrieve from them. Moreover, the desirability of the concept among customers is considered to depend on whether the concept can be deemed as better than solutions currently used, particularly in terms of efficiency. More specifically, the idea of the concept is that the specialized vessel would work as a shared delivery and retrieval facility among the fields in the North Sea. Results revealed that the concept can be regarded as feasible, and that the specialized vessel may have replaced a number of the vessels currently being used to conduct these activities. Also, it was proven that it would utilize time more efficiently than currently used vessels. Furthermore, the operators within the oil and gas sector may reduce their costs related to delivery and retrieval operations, if adopting the concept. The concept would also provide Halliburton with economic benefits, based on results revealing the concept to be profitable with high probability. In addition to benefits in terms of economy, both for potential customers and Halliburton, the concept could contribute to innovation within the oil and gas sector as the vessel would be able to prepare waste retrieved for a potential future treatment process onshore by fractioning during transportation. Globally, no service company within the oil and gas sector offers a complete service as the one evaluated within this thesis, making Halliburton the only provider of such a service if initiating the concept. Based on this, it can be stated that the concept would have been a game changer – for Halliburton, as well as the operators.