Session: 11-07-01 Petroleum Production: Offshore Systems and Subsea Operations

Submission Number: 180942

Applying Response Surface Modeling to Evaluate Subsea-to-Shore Production System Design 

One of the major challenges in the oil industry is efficiently designing subsea production systems that balance production maximization with cost reduction. The subsea-to-shore concept offers an alternative to traditional offshore production by incorporating subsea pre-processing units and eliminating the need for floating production facilities. In the subsea-to-shore configuration, fluids are separated, compressed, and pumped using subsea equipment and then transported to onshore processing facilities. This approach reduces costs, offshore personnel exposure, and environmental risks through lower carbon emissions. Despite its advantages, the subsea-to-shore concept remains in its early stages in Brazil, requiring further technological development to optimize equipment layout and ensure flow assurance. This paper presents a modeling approach for evaluating key design parameters and the operational feasibility of subsea-to-shore oil and gas production systems. Multiphase flow simulations were performed using representative data from Brazilian offshore fields and Norway's Ormen Lange gas field. The simulations investigated how fluid properties, pipeline diameter, and distance to shore affect flow assurance and system performance. A response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to derive predictive production flow rate functions for future optimization. Results offer preliminary guidance for system design and highlight the potential of subsea-to-shore architecture in enhancing sustainability and safety in offshore operations.

Presenting Author: Juliana Souza Baioco LAMCSO/COPPE/UFRJ

Presenting Author Biography: Juliana Souza Baioco is the assistant department head of the Industrial Engineering Department
(DEI/POLI/UFRJ) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She is also a professor in the
Petroleum Engineering course at UFRJ and a professor in the Civil Engineering Program (PEC) at the Post
Graduate Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ). She holds a PhD and a
postdoctoral degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Oil and Gas from COPPE/UFRJ and earned
her undergraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering from UFRJ. As a researcher at the Laboratory of
Computational Methods and Offshore Systems (LAMCSO), Juliana develops models for the synthesis and
optimization of submarine layouts. Her work on this project earned the ANP Technological Innovation
Award in 2019 in the Industry 4.0 category. She received the Young Member Outstanding Service Award
from the SPE Latin America and the Caribbean Region in 2019. And in 2025, she won the Women
Researchers in Energy Transition award from ENGIE Brasil and the French Embassy in Brazil.

Authors:

Patrícia Da Silva Figueiredo Ferreira COPPE/UFRJ
Juliana Souza Baioco LAMCSO/COPPE/UFRJ
Breno Pinheiro Jacob COPPE/UFRJ
Marcelo Igor Lourenço De Souza COPPE/UFRJ