scope:

API 17A provides general requirements and recommendations for the development and operation of subsea production/injection systems, from the concept development phase to decommissioning and abandonment. This document references other API 17-series documents, as well as various relevant industry documents.

A complete subsea production/injection system comprises several subsystems necessary to produce hydrocarbons from one or more subsea wells and transfer them to a processing/host facility located offshore (fixed, floating, or subsea) or onshore, or to inject water/gas via subsea facilities and/or wells (as shown in Figure 1).

NOTE The term "subsea production system" is used generically throughout this document to describe both production and injection systems.

Flexible pipe standards form part of the API 17-series of documents (see 4.3.3); however, RP 17A does not generally cover flowlines/pipelines or production/injection risers (associated with flowlines/pipelines). These components form part of a complete Subsea Production System (SPS), as shown in Figure 1.

If requirements as stated in this document are in conflict with, or are inconsistent with, requirements as stated in other API 17-series documents, the specific requirements in the subsystem series document(s) take precedence.