PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – TotalEnergies is incorporating a range of innovations into its GranMorgu offshore development, according to TotalEnergies EP Suriname Managing Director Artur Nunes da Silva. He said TotalEnergies evaluates new technologies based on the value they deliver in areas such as safety, emissions reduction and operational performance, rather than innovation for its own sake.
The energy executive joined a panel discussion at the ‘Weatherford Technology Showcase: Deepwater Fields of the Future’ event at the Assuria Event Center in Paramaribo on Monday, where he outlined the company’s approach to developing and deploying new technologies across its global operations.
“We should not innovate or change for the sake of innovation or change,” he said, noting that innovation is pursued to create value.
Nunes da Silva said safety remains the first consideration when assessing new technologies, followed by emissions reduction, operational performance and commercial benefits.
As examples of technologies that have met those criteria, he pointed to a pyrotechnic-based safety system TotalEnergies utilizes, adapted from technology originally developed for Arctic operations. He said the system is designed to rapidly sever connections in emergency situations, helping to reduce the risk of incidents.
He also pointed to the company’s Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA), a drone-mounted methane detection technology developed by TotalEnergies and its research partners.
According to Nunes da Silva, the technology has proven effective at detecting and measuring methane emissions, to the extent that researchers were brought in to validate its performance. He said AUSEA’s ability to be deployed across operations made it a strong example of the type of innovation the company seeks to advance.
Beyond emissions monitoring, TotalEnergies is also applying advanced thermodynamic modelling to reduce isolation requirements on offshore flowlines. Nunes da Silva said the approach lowers costs while reducing operational risks.
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He explained that the company assesses technologies using three key criteria: value, scalability and deployment.
“We also look at the scalability. Is it for one shot, or is it something that can be used in almost all our operations?” he said.
The final challenge, he added, is ensuring innovations can be successfully deployed across multiple operations. “We have a full team only dedicated to deployment, to make sure that when we have an innovation, when we recognize the value, it’s implemented,” Nunes da Silva said.
TotalEnergies is operator of the GranMorgu project in Block 58 offshore Suriname. It has a 40% interest, while APA Corporation has 40% and Staatsolie holds 20%. The project, expected to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day, will be Suriname’s first offshore oil development.
