Ex-FMC Men, DeepOcean Found Optime Subsea Services

A group of ex-FMC employees have teamed up with subsea installation player DeepOcean to found Optime Subsea Services, whose multi Completion  System (mCS) can install subsea trees at up to 80% the time and cost of traditional solutions.

“The oil and gas operators have for years requested a cost reduction within the subsea industry. So far their expectations have not been met. A change needs to happen now! Our technologies will limit operators’ capex and significantly lower their opex. For example, one of our solutions can save USD 1-2 million per vertical subsea tree installation,” says Jan-Fredrik Carlsen, CEO of Optime Subsea Serivces.

Optime Subsea Services is a newly established subsea oil and gas services company. It has set up offices in Houston, USA, and the city of Notodden, which is part of the ‘Subsea Valley’ industry cluster in Norway. The company develops its own technology and provides services within subsea intervention, installation and work over operations.

The company said it will focus on penetrating the market with two technological step-changes; the multiCompletionSystem (mCS) called Light Completion Intervention System (LCIS) and the Remove Operated Completion System (ROCS) for future installation of tubing hangers on subsea trees.

Light Completion Intervention System (LCIS)

“In contrast to any other system, the LCIS can pull the tubing hanger plug and put the well on stream in one single operation. This is a game-changer when it comes to efficiency. As the LCIS is tailored for lighter operations, you can run it from smaller vessels that cost USD 120k – 150k per day, instead of large subsea vessels with day rates from USD 350k upwards,” says Carlsen.

The LCIS will install, lock and test the subsea tree with its plug retrievable tool. The plug retrievable tool on top of the LCIS is a closed barrier system and since it does not penetrate any of the two barriers, it does not need a large cutting mechanism such as a seal ram or safety head. The LCIS also addresses the contingency challenge by having the capability of leveraging a traditional work over system to land on the system should absolutely everything fail, the company explained.

Remote Operated Completion System (ROCS)

The ROCS is an optimized way for future installation of tubing hangers on subsea trees. The system eliminates the damage to the control umbilical.

“The ROCS has a small electrical umbilical subsea and controls the tubing hanger by communicating to a control module inside the marine riser. Hence, we eliminate the need for an umbilical in the marine riser. This represents significant cost saving and frees up vital space topside as you do not need an umbilical reel anymore,” says Carlsen.

DeepOcean investment

“Optime Subsea Services brings an innovative technology that challenges today’s traditional solutions by, amongst others, moving operations previously done from a rig, to a vessel potentially operated and maintained by DeepOcean. We will therefore be able to offer a complete service for operations such as installation, replacement and intervention of subsea trees, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional drilling rig. We know operators expect to see new solutions that drive down cost and increases productivity,” says Mads Baardsen, group Executive Vice President iInternational in DeepOcean.