Стандартизация и раннее сотрудничество: ключ к эффективности глубоководных проектов

Deepwater’s next opportunity GARY ARCHER, OneSubsea Amid the broad and diverse conversations taking place across our sector at the moment, from geopolitics and market outlooks to supply chains, AI, and the energy transition, one question prevails: how can we become more efficient and capture value faster? It's an important question, because the environment in which we operate is evolving at pace. Capital is competing across an increasingly diverse energy landscape, and every investment is expected to do more than simply produce energy. Projects need to demonstrate robust economics, they need to be delivered with predictability, and they need to contribute to an energy system that is secure, affordable and sustainable. In many respects, deepwater is well-positioned to meet those expectations. Some of the industry's most resilient developments continue to be found subsea, offering attractive economics, as well as some of the lowest carbon intensity barrels available. Those fundamentals matter, and I am more convinced than ever that deepwater has an important role to play in meeting the world's future energy needs. What interests me, however, is not whether deepwater remains relevant: it's how we make sure it remains competitive. For much of the last 50 years, our industry has built its reputation by solving increasingly difficult technical challenges. We have extended production into deeper water, developed technologies capable of operating in extreme conditions and transformed marginal resources that were once considered inaccessible into commercially viable developments, Fig 1. These achievements should not be underestimated. They represent decades of innovation, learning and operational experience. More importantly, they mean that our industry begins from a position of strength. Many of the technology building blocks needed for tomorrow's developments already exist and are proven. We understand deepwater production, know how to design reliable subsea systems and have accumulated lessons from thousands of wells and hundreds of projects. That doesn't mean innovation is no longer required. New technologies will continue to emerge, and advances in digitalization and AI are improving the way we work and the outcomes we deliver. But if I were to identify our industry's greatest opportunity today, I believe that it lies less in inventing entirely new technologies and more in how we leverage proven solutions to simplify project execution. LOOKING BEYOND TECHNOLOGY One of the things I've learned over the years is that successful projects rarely depend on a single success factor. More often than not, they are the result of hundreds of good decisions made consistently from the earliest stages of development through to first production. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Projects rarely become difficult because of one major event. Complexity usually creeps in gradually. A specification is adjusted, an additional review is introduced, and a particular preference is carried over from an earlier development. Individually, those decisions often appear reasonable. Collectively, they can reshape the entire execution model. Before long, execution teams are managing hundreds of documents, additional interfaces start emerging between contractors, procurement activities become more complicated, and manufacturing plans have to adapt to changes that weren't anticipated at the outset. None of this happens, because people make poor decisions. Most decisions are made with the best of intentions. The challenge is that each layer of complexity affects everything that follows. And what begins as a series of small decisions can ultimately have a significant impact on cost, schedule and predictability. That's why I think it's worth asking ourselves a simple question: are we always investing our engineering capability where it creates the greatest value? Engineering remains one of our industry's greatest strengths, and there will always be projects that demand entirely new thinking. But there are also many situations where we're asking highly experienced people to recreate solutions that are already well-understood. If we can reduce that effort without compromising safety, quality or performance, we create capacity to focus on the challenges that genuinely are unique. THE VALUE OF SIMPLIFYING EARLY When people talk about simplification, it's easy to think of it as a detailed engineering process. In reality, it is a much greater opportunity. By the time a project reaches detailed design, many of the decisions that determine its complexity have already been made. The overall architecture has been defined, key interfaces established and the direction is largely set. At this stage, change is still possible, but it becomes progressively more difficult—and expensive. That's why I believe early engagement is one of the greatest opportunities we have to simplify field architecture and improve project outcomes. Operators bring a deep understanding of the reservoir and the objectives they need to achieve. Partners bring experience from many different developments, often with valuable insight into where complexity exists and where proven approaches can deliver the right outcomes in a simpler, more efficient way. Bringing these perspectives together early encourages everyone to think about the development as a complete system, rather than a series of individual work packages. Experience tells us that decisions made in one area inevitably affect another. A choice around subsea architecture influences manufacturing, installation, commissioning and ultimately long-term performance of the asset, Fig. 2. Understanding these connections early makes it easier to optimize the entire project, rather than improving the individual scopes of work. TECHNOLOGY ALSO HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY. One of the most encouraging developments is the growing ability to connect information across the entire project lifecycle. A digital thread that connects subsurface understanding with engineering, manufacturing and operations gives everyone access to the same information, reducing the need to recreate or reinterpret data at each stage of the project. AI has the potential to build on that even further. Let me be clear: I don’t see AI replacing engineering judgment—if anything, I think it makes engineering judgment even more valuable. By automating repetitive tasks, identifying patterns in complex datasets, and making information easier to access, AI gives experienced people more time to focus on the most value-adding activities. That’s what I find most exciting about digitalization. It’s not about changing what we're trying to achieve; it’s about helping us make better decisions, so that we can deliver projects more effectively. Early collaboration creates the opportunity to simplify. The next challenge is to make those simpler solutions repeatable—and that’s where standardization becomes so important. MAKING STANDARDIZATION WORK Standardization is one of those ideas that almost everyone supports in principle. We can all see the benefits: proven solutions that reduce engineering effort, improved reliability, shorter schedules and more predictable manufacturing and installation. The challenge, in my view, is not recognizing the value of standardization; it’s deciding where we want to apply it. Every operator has legitimate preferences, and every project has its own technical, commercial and regulatory requirements. And, let’s be honest, there will always be elements that need to be tailored to a specific development. But that doesn't mean that everything needs to be redesigned. Perhaps the question we should ask more often is not, "What makes this project different?" but rather, "What can remain the same?" This shift in thinking can have a major impact on the way projects are delivered. For many years, engineer-to-order has been the default approach for complex offshore developments, but we often underestimate how much can be delivered using proven, configurable solutions. That’s why I believe configure-to-order deserves greater attention as part of the industry’s toolkit. This is not about limiting technical ambition; it is about making better use of the knowledge we have already gained through decades of project execution. Over time, this creates a different kind of innovation: one that is driven by continuous improvement, lessons learned, and repeatability. ALIGNING AROUND PROJECT SUCCESS Of course, simplification and standardization do not happen by themselves; they rely on a project environment that encourages the right behaviors from the beginning. Within this context, I believe that commercial models play an important role. We should ask ourselves whether the way projects are structured incentivizes participants to optimize the project as a whole or merely optimize their individual scope of work. Competitive tendering has played an important role in our industry and will continue to do so. Healthy competition drives performance and challenges all of us to improve. At the same time, many of the decisions that have the greatest influence on project economics are made long before detailed engineering begins. They happen when architecture is being shaped, interfaces are being defined and execution strategies are still evolving. If collaboration only starts once those decisions have already been taken, opportunities to simplify are inevitably reduced. That is why we are seeing growing interest in commercial models that bring operators and suppliers together earlier and align them around common objectives and success factors. When alignment exists from the outset, conversations naturally change. The focus shifts away from transferring risk and optimizing individual contracts towards improving overall project outcomes. Strong commercial discipline remains essential, but decisions can be evaluated against a shared objective: delivering the best possible project. I have seen firsthand how that approach can change the quality of discussions. Different perspectives are brought into the room earlier; potential issues are addressed before they become expensive problems, and teams become more willing to challenge complexity, rather than simply manage it. We are not talking about dramatic changes, but they are often the ones that have the greatest influence on project performance. RESILIENCE IS BUILT LONG BEFORE FIRST PRODUCTION There is another dimension of project execution that deserves greater attention. We often think about resilience in terms of technology, schedules and supply chains. Increasingly, however, I believe resilience is also about capability. Successful projects do more than deliver infrastructure; they strengthen engineering expertise, manufacturing capability and operational know-how that remain long after first production. Every major development has the potential to improve local engineering, manufacturing and operational expertise, Fig. 3. It creates opportunities for people, businesses and communities that extend well beyond the project itself. Personally, I have always believed that building capability in the places where we work is good for everyone involved. In an increasingly uncertain world, resilience has real value. Events over recent years have highlighted how quickly global supply chains can be disrupted—by geopolitical developments, market shifts or operational challenges. Organizations with strong local capability are often better positioned to adapt, because they have established relationships, trusted expertise and greater flexibility when circumstances change. These investments do more than strengthen a single project. They create a stronger foundation for future developments and improve the resilience of the broader industry. LOOKING AHEAD The deepwater industry has never stood still. Every decade has introduced new technical challenges, and every decade, we have found new ways to overcome them. I am confident that this will continue. New technologies will emerge, digital capabilities will develop further, and AI will undoubtedly become a much more significant part of the way we work. When I think back to the conversations I have been having, I keep coming back to the same question: how do we deliver better projects? For me, the answer is unlikely to come from a single breakthrough or one transformative technology, but in our willingness to simplify the way we work together, build on proven solutions and make better decisions earlier. If we can do that consistently, we will strengthen deepwater’s position as one of the most competitive and resilient sources of energy for decades to come. GARY ARCHER is vice president of Subsea Production Systems at OneSubsea and has served on the executive leadership team since the company’s creation in 2023. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Mr. Archer specializes in project and operations management and has successfully led large, complex subsea projects across several offshore basins worldwide. His focus is on delivering safe, predictable project outcomes, while upholding the highest standards of sustainability, integrity, and reliability. Originally from the UK, Mr. Archer is based in Houston, Texas. He holds an MBA from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, and is PMP© certified by the Project Management Institute. Editor’s note: This article is derived from a presentation delivered at World Oil’s Deepwater Development Conference, held in Lisbon Portugal, March 10-12, 2026. Related Articles FROM THE ARCHIVE