THE TREND OF MIGRATION FROM TOPSIDE TO SUBSEA EQUIPMENT IN MARINE OIL & GAS EXPLORATION UNITS

This work is research that analyse the current trend of migration of the installation of offshore production equipment from the TOPSIDE installation to SUBSEA. Equipment whose technology was traditionally designed to be installed in TOPSIDE, on the surface of oil platforms. The research initially discusses the causes that motivated such technological migration, pointing to the global movement to promote the Green Economy. This movement pushed the offshore oil and gas industry to adapt to sustainability and decarbonization requirements. The impact of the decommissioning law is presented below. Through the creation of government regulatory bodies in countries, stricter regulatory standards were implemented, resulting in increased financial expenses to keep companies running and increased costs to make adaptations and approve new projects, since operating licenses depend on compliance Cool. The study continues by presenting an introductory view of typical SUBSEA and TOPSIDE equipment in offshore production units, which serves as a basis for a better contextual understanding of what the work is about. Next, the challenges and opportunities of migrating from TOPSIDE to SUBSEA are discussed and demonstrated that this is already a reality through the presentation of two real cases of successful migration published in academic literature. Two important conclusions of this study are: the first, to point out the main cause that motivated spending in the search for innovations and development of disruptive technological solutions that present themselves in the current scenario of the offshore industry, which would not be promoted without the revolution caused by the global movement in pursuit of the Green Economy. Due to the comfortable fi nancial situation that the offshore oil exploration and production industry has always had, achieving satisfactory profitability, why spend on innovation? Because she was forced to do it. The second conclusion is that investing in the TOPSIDE-SUBSEA migration is a pressing reality for the offshore industry and is no longer an option to be considered, as it brings a great bonus opportunity for reducing capital (CAPEX) and operational costs (OPEX), both necessary to financially support compliance with new regulatory decommissioning laws. On the other hand, it is important to weigh the challenges to be overcome in the transition.