Fugro begins metocean and ice data collection project in Barents Sea

Fugro, Dutch geotechnical subsea company, has begun a three-year period of metocean and ice data collecting as part of the Barents Sea Metocean and Ice Network Project.

In a statement from Tuesday, Fugro said the data collected will help operators better understand relevant operational uncertainties and risk factors in the region known as “The Far North” offshore Norway – a frontier region for oil and gas exploration. Fugro further added that the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority has recognized this as an important project and appropriate measures to reduce risk factors should be undertaken.

According to Fugro, Statoil is leading a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to gather additional and necessary metocean and ice data in the region. Furthermore, the company states that early acquisition of data in frontier regions is key to reducing risk for operators which, in turn, can lead to potential cost savings.

JIP participants will, Fugro said, have numerous advantages related to data sharing across a frontier region, such as increased understanding of metocean processes and their spatial extent and an extended data pool against which to validate models.

Data collected from the project is acquired via SEAWATCH Wavescan buoys which are currently collecting raw wave, current, meteorological and sea-water parameter data, processing the information and transmitting the summary data via satellite link. Real-time data is then displayed on a project-specific webpage that can be accessed by the client via secure log-in. Fugro stated that five such buoys were deployed in October 2015, one current- and water level-monitoring buoy, and five ice thickness and current-profiler moorings, at offshore sites between Hammerfest and Svalbard. Data is being stored within the instruments’ internal memories for download at service visits, which are scheduled at six-month intervals for the buoys and annually in the open water season for the ice measuring equipment.

The company said the first service visit happened in March/April 2016, following which Fugro processed, analyzed and reported data collected over the first phase of measurements. The final dataset will be produced for the JIP partners upon completion of the measurement campaign in autumn 2018.

Fugro’s Mark Jones reports, “We have worked with Norwegian operators for many years and we know that managing risk and maintaining a safe operating environment is a priority. While there are significant historical metocean data available, additional collection of data related to the metocean and ice regime will further strengthen the safe planning of operations, design engineering, calibration of models and validation of weather forecasting in this frontier region.

“Fugro’s careful planning and management of site visits ensures that data acquisition is maximized. Equipment needs to be deployed and serviced during open water periods, and to collect data during the ice seasons.”

The JIP led by Statoil includes ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, KUFPEC Norway, DEA E&P Norge, DONG E&P Norge, OMV Norge, Repsol Exploration Norge, Wintershall Norge, Total E&P Norge, and ENGIE E&P Norge while the Steering Committee members are Statoil (Chair), LUKOIL Overseas North Shelf, Lundin Norway, Shell Technology Norway, Eni Norge and Det Norske Oljeselskap.