Wintershall Dea taps Norwegian firm for subsea technology

Norwegian firm Optime Subsea has entered into a long-term framework agreement with oil and gas operator Wintershall Dea regarding the rental of remote-controlled subsea well completion and intervention systems.

Under the contract, Wintershall Dea will rent three remotely operated control systems (ROCS) including the universal landing string system (panpipe), and two wireless electric subsea control and intervention systems (eSCILS) from Optime Subsea.

Optime Subsea will provide technical service personnel to support Wintershall Dea’s operations.

Wintershall Dea plans to use the ROCS and eSCILS equipment at its operated fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.

According to Optime Subsea, the framework agreement is valid for a firm period of three years plus two additional two-year options.

If both periods are exercised, Optime Subsea estimates that the contract could generate a total income of around NOK 500 million ($48,3 million).

The Norwegian company will manufacture all equipment at its headquarters in Notodden, Norway. 

In 2022, Optime Subsea made an upfront three-figure NOK million investment to build ten similar ROCS systems.

A North Sea operator ordered the first two systems, a West African operator the third, and now Wintershall Dea has secured the next three.

“This contract manifests our position as the leading global supplier of remote-controlled well completion and intervention systems. Our solutions are tailored to simplify subsea, entailing less offshore equipment, lower weight, fewer logistics, lower HSE risk, and lower emissions and costs. We look forward to supporting Wintershall Dea in achieving this,” said Jan-Fredrik Carlsen, CEO at Optime Subsea.

The ROCS is a fully battery-powered and umbilical-less system for well-completion operations.

It is said to eliminate the need for the costly and heavy umbilical that normally runs from the topside to the seabed to control the tubing hanger during completions, meaning that a large topside hydraulic unit is not required. 

In total, the system avoids the mobilization of approximately 50 tons of topside equipment.

Further, ROCS is mobilized in a single basket, prepared and made up onshore, allowing it to be ready to run immediately when offshore, from a rig.

From the most recent company-related news, it is worth mentioning that Wintershall Dea picked AGR Software’s iQx time and cost estimation and tracking software for its drilling and well projects in Norway at the end of December 2022.