Evaluation of energy efficiency efforts of oil and gas offshore processing

Oil and gas platforms are energy-intensive systems, and each facility consumes from a few to several hundred MW of power, depending on the oil, gas and water extraction, as well as different field and export conditions. Despite these differences, several strategies can be applied to improve the energy performance of these facilities, by decreasing the power and heating requirements and designing more efficient processes. Several technologies that have been proposed are to (i) promote energy integration within the oil and gas processing plant, (ii) add an additional pressure extraction level, (iii) implement multiphase expanders, and (iv) install a waste heat recovery system. The present work builds on two case studies located in the North and Norwegian Seas, which differ by the type of oil processed, operating conditions and strategies. The findings suggest that no generic improvement can be proposed, and that a thorough technical analysis should be conducted on each facility. However, reductions in both energy use and CO2-emissions are feasible, exceeding in both cases 15%.