MAN Energy Solutions has been awarded a contract to support the FEED study of a subsea compression solution for the Chevron-operated Jansz-Io Field in Western Australia on July 17.

“We are very proud to work with our alliance partner Aker Solutions on the Jansz-Io field development project for Chevron Australia,” Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions, said. “Thanks to this project, we will be able to prove once again the unrivaled value and reliability of our groundbreaking subsea compression solution.”

Jansz-Io will be the first gas field outside Norway where the subsea compression technology comes to use. It is located around 200 km (124 miles) off the Australian north-west coast at a water depth of approximately 1,350 m (4,429 ft). Jansz-Io is part of the Gorgon project–one of the world’s largest natural gas developments.

MAN Energy Solutions’ scope of work within the FEED covers the technology of the subsea compressors, which will be used to maintain output as reservoir pressure drops over time. Subsea compression solutions boost the recovery of the gas more cost-effectively and with a smaller environmental footprint than conventional compressor systems that are typically installed on platforms above sea level.

MAN’s subsea compression solution has already proven its reliability and benefits for Equinor’s Åsgard gas field in Norway, where the subsea compressors reached 50,000 hours of operation with practically no stops or interruptions in December 2018.

Based on Barrow Island (Western Australia), the Gorgon project includes a LNG facility designed to produce 15.6 million metric tons of LNG per year. The subsea infrastructure will also be used to transport the gas from the Jansz-Io offshore field to Gorgon’s onshore facilities with its three LNG processing units. The project also comprises a domestic natural gas plant.