FourPhase has completed the oil and gas industry's first remote solids management operation offshore, for a two-month program with Aker BP in the North Sea.
The project involved coiled tubing cleanout of two chalk bridge wells, all the solids returns of which were treated topside utilizing FourPhase's DualFlow desander unit and monitoring equipment. Operations were managed from Aker BP's recently commissioned Gnist center, built in order to facilitate remote and digital operations.
By reducing offshore staff to four operators, the pilot was more efficient and safer. The companies predict later campaigns will require as few as one operator per shift, with more than one intervention being controlled simultaneously.
"This project proves that the future of offshore solids management can be safer and more efficient," said Øyvind Heradstveit, CEO of FourPhase. "It sets a new benchmark for how the industry manages solids in the offshore environment."
Aker BP managers cited the partnership as a watershed moment for North Sea intervention operations. The approach is intended to lower logistics cost, minimize environmental footprint, and lower exposure to offshore staff without compromising performance.
FourPhase had been developing remote operations technology since 2018, and the Aker BP project was an important step towards its long-term vision of entirely autonomous solids management.