FASTsubsea, a joint venture between FSubsea and Aker Solutions, and PETRONAS’ subsidiary PETRONAS Research Sdn Bhd signed a Joint Industry Project contract to develop and test a low-cost, topside-less subsea multiphase pump.

According to the agreement, PETRONAS Research will support the development and testing program while FASTsubsea is bringing the product to the market in 2022.

“Getting this participation from a large operator such as PETRONAS is a significant achievement, not least given current industry conditions,” said John Macleod, chief technology officer of Aker Solutions.

According to Alexander Fuglesang, managing director of FASTsubsea, the game-changing FASTsubsea technology allows operators to more rapidly extract additional hydrocarbons from existing offshore wells and installed infrastructure. End users are drawn to the technology as increased recovery now can be done in a much more sustainable way, and at up to 50 percent lower capital expenditure (CAPEX) investment than conventional subsea pumping systems, which is key in this market environment.

The participation from PETRONAS Research comes in addition to a NOK 11 million (about MYR 5.1 million) commitment from the Research Council of Norway and allows engineering activities to start immediately. The project is still open for two further operators to join as Joint Industry Project partners, which would provide the opportunity to influence and gain early access to the ground-breaking technology.

About FASTsubsea
FASTsubsea is a joint venture between Aker Solutions and Fsubsea to develop the world’s first topside-less subsea multiphase boosting system called FASTsubsea X. FASTsubsea X is a powerful yet simple pump to increase oil recovery for brownfields, tie-backs and marginal or distributed fields. The pump can reduce capex by up to 50% as it enables subsea boosting at fields where there is no available topside space. The system provides increased reliability and gets more out of existing wells which reduces CO2 emissions per barrel.

About Aker Solutions in Malaysia
Aker Solutions helps the world meet its energy needs. We engineer the products, systems and services required to unlock energy. Our goal is to maximize recovery and efficiency of oil and gas assets, while using our expertise to develop the sustainable solutions of the future. Aker Solutions employs approximately 13,000 people in more than 20 countries.

Malaysia is Aker Solutions’ Asia Pacific headquarters with facilities in Kuala Lumpur, Port Klang and Labuan. The country plays a key part in the company’s international strategy, providing solutions to a global customer base. Aker Solutions’ high technology subsea manufacturing center in Port Klang is one of the largest subsea facilities in Southeast Asia.