TechnipFMC has delivered its 100th Subsea 2.0® tree to Shell—the operator that first adopted the standardized, configurable subsea product platform.

The subsea tree was manufactured, assembled, and tested at TechnipFMC’s dedicated facility for the Subsea 2.0® product platform in Nusajaya, Malaysia.

Tree #100 will be used on a Shell project in the Gulf of America. The first Subsea 2.0® tree was installed during the development of Shell’s BC-10 field, offshore Brazil, in 2021.

“This is a proud moment for the worldwide team who have worked to make Subsea 2.0® the game-changing success it has become,” said Jonathan Landes, President, Subsea at TechnipFMC.

“This year, we celebrated 30 years of partnership with Shell. They understood the benefits of Subsea 2.0® from the very beginning and we are delighted that they are marking this milestone—the 100th Subsea 2.0® tree—with us.”

"Delivering complex subsea projects at scale requires vison, technical capability and collaboration,” said Chris Howell, Senior Vice President Deep Water Projects for Shell. “Together, we’re setting new benchmarks for performance, simplification and reliability in deep water operations while advancing innovation beneath the ocean’s surface."

Half of TechnipFMC’s tree orders in 2024 were for Subsea 2.0®, which has been widely adopted by operators. The product platform also includes manifolds and integrated 800 Series controls. Combined, these systems control the flow of oil and gas from a subsea wellhead.

Through the use of standardized parts to deliver configurable solutions, Subsea 2.0® meets clients’ specific needs while reducing lead time, thus helping to accelerate time to first oil and gas production.

The tree architecture is modular, with a high focus on commonality between horizontal and vertical tree systems. Similarly, the manifold architecture uses pre-designed components and blocks to deliver flexibility in functionality.

The development of Subsea 2.0® began in 2015, with a vision to streamline subsea engineering through standardization and modularity.

Shell’s collaboration, perspectives, and contributions were key in the development of Subsea 2.0®. It became a benchmark for systems engineering—covering requirements definition, traceability, interface management, and an extensive qualification program led by TechnipFMC with Shell subject matter experts’ involvement.

A dedicated team was set up, led by Paulo Couto, who is now TechnipFMC’s Senior Vice President Industrialization and Quality. Using Lean principles, they reduced the product’s complexity, weight, and delivery time.

Paulo said: “Subsea 2.0® was born from our dissatisfaction with the status quo. Our industry has peaks and troughs, and we wanted to flatten those.

“We looked at companies in other industries who rode out downturns, and saw they had go-to products that were industrialized. So we had to change the mindsets of people who were used to working project by project, both on our side and at our clients.

“Subsea 2.0® and our integrated Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (iEPCI™) project methodology were really the start of the transformation journey TechnipFMC is on. We’re now known as the company that simplifies, standardizes, and industrializes using scalable, configurable technologies and methods.”

The prototype of the vertical Subsea 2.0® tree was developed and built at TechnipFMC’s facility in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, then a horizontal prototype was manufactured at the company’s campus in Dunfermline, United Kingdom. Finally, the in-the-well version, which does not sit on a tubing head, was manufactured in Brazil. All versions share common parts but accommodate the different approaches.

The product platform was launched into a market reliant on engineered-to-order (ETO) solutions, but also at a time when operators were shifting away from relying on in-house subject matter experts who addressed company- and field-specific challenges.

Derek Neumeyer, Vice President Key Account Shell, has been involved with Subsea 2.0® since its inception. He said: “Client buy-in was essential. Alongside the configurability they need, we demonstrated predictability in design, execution, and supply chain. Coupling that with reduced engineering hours enables clients to move projects forward faster than they could with ETO technologies. We’ve reduced complexity for us and, most importantly, our clients.”

To meet demand for Subsea 2.0® trees, TechnipFMC established a dedicated manufacturing line at its facility in Nusajaya in 2022.

Alberto Oliveira, Manufacturing Director at Nusajaya, said: “The advantage of Subsea 2.0® from a manufacturing perspective is that it’s a repeatable, configurable technology. Our production line, from manufacturing through to assembly and test, established a constant flow of product. That is not achievable with ETO solutions, where you could have challenges such as first articles and new part numbers which interrupt the flow.

“With the line dedicated to Subsea 2.0®, we output a higher volume of trees, while reducing the lead time by about a third, compared with ETO trees. Repeatability also has a positive impact on quality.”

To date, TechnipFMC’s Subsea 2.0® product platform, is installed on projects in locations such as Australia, Brazil, the Gulf of America, Guyana, the Mediterranean, and West Africa.