In an industry that can gravitate toward bespoke solutions, Aker BP sought something different: a simplified setup.
The operations team believed simplifying vendors’ subsea control equipment for completions would reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase safety. Over a period of 6 years, the operator worked with Optime Subsea and Halliburton, which later bought Optime, to develop digital hydraulic controls and an associated orientation system that could install a tubing hanger in Christmas trees without umbilicals and other conventional equipment.
The approach was initially rolled out for horizontal subsea trees in 2021, and in September 2025, a vertical tree approach was deployed in Aker BP wells on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The results of the deployment for vertical trees were an average savings of between $4 million and $5 million per well, with minimal nonproductive time (NPT), Mads Rødsjø, Aker BP’s vice president for drilling and wells, told JPT.
“Most fields have their own quirks and perks, if you like, and they’re all tailor-made to that particular system,” he said. In those different fields, each vendor has its own custom control systems for installations, entries, and so forth.
“We set ourselves out to simplify this because there’s a huge hidden cost on the rig side with rig modifications, installation of heavy equipment,” he said, noting equipment can be costly, and modifying the rig requires both time and money while also decreasing productivity of the rig.
The goal was equipment that didn’t require rig modifications.
“We decided to go the route where we would replace a lot of heavy equipment with basically software and technology,” Rødsjø said.
That software and technology includes Enhanced Remote Operated Control System (eROCS) and Optime Tubing Hanger Orientation System (OTHOS), which Optime and Halliburton developed in collaboration with Aker BP. The eROCS technology is the next evolution of the Remote Operated Control System (ROCS), which first deployed on the NCS in 2021.
The combined eROCS and OTHOS digital hydraulic control and orientation systems can be used to install and orient a tubing hanger for a vertical Christmas tree without requiring umbilicals, conventional tubing-hanger orientation tools, or standard blowout-preventer (BOP)‑alignment equipment.
Addition by Subtraction
Benefits of using eROCS and OTHOS include reducing red-zone exposure as well as eliminating the need to lift and handle tubing strings, which are “notoriously big,” Rødsjø said.
“We took off 30 tons of equipment, we spent a fraction of the time, and basically, we don’t put people in harm’s way. And this is just by developing these digital and technology solutions.
