Peregrino phase 2 on stream

On 10 October at 20:00 local time, the new platform in Brazil, Peregrino C, produced its very first oil.

Peregrino phase 2 will extend the Peregrino field life to 2040. Phase 2 adds 250-300 million barrels of oil, while at the same time halving expected CO2 emissions per barrel over the field remaining lifetime.

“I am thrilled that we have started production from the new Peregrino C platform. Covid-19 has made Peregrino phase 2 a challenging project, and I want to thank everyone involved for delivering the project with excellent HSE results,” says Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s executive vice president for Projects, Drilling & Procurement.

Peregrino phase 2 consists of a new platform with drilling facilities and living quarters tied in to the existing Peregrino FPSO, as well as a new pipeline importing gas to the platform for power generation.

In operation the new platform will provide 350 long-term jobs offshore and onshore in Brazil.

The project was on schedule for planned start-up late in 2020 when Covid-19 hit the project hard, leading to cuts in the workforce several times in the crucial and normally labor-intensive hook-up phase. Still, Peregrino phase 2 is delivered within the original USD 3 billion cost estimate.


In line with Equinor’s low carbon strategy, measures have been taken to reduce CO2 emissions from the Peregrino field. By switching from diesel to gas for power generation on Peregrino C, phase 2 will avoid 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from the Peregrino field per year.

This will also reduce costs and simplify logistics in the operational phase.

“The start-up of Peregrino Phase 2 is an important milestone in Equinor’s growth strategy in Brazil. This project showcases how we can bring valuable new resources onto production at the same time as investing in technology to cut carbon emissions. I am proud that Peregrino Phase 2 will increase field production to 110,000 barrels per day at plateau whilst halving our emissions intensity,” says Al Cook, Equinor’s executive vice president for Exploration & Production International.

The new platform is also equipped with the latest digital tools, like a 3D model of the entire platform that operators can use on an iPad in the field. This improves cooperation offshore and between the platform and the onshore operational support team in Rio de Janeiro.

New digital solutions will also contribute to optimized production, reducing energy usage and thereby CO2 emissions.

Facts

• Located in the Campos Basin, the Peregrino field started production in 2011.
• Equinor is the operator (60%), with Sinochem (40%) as partner in the field.
• Peregrino Phase 1 consists of a floating production vessel (FPSO) supported by two wellhead platforms: Peregrino A and Peregrino B.
• Peregrino is the largest field operated by Equinor outside Norway and the first of a series of major field developments in Brazil.
• The Peregrino field has so far produced more than 210 million barrels of oil since the field came on stream in 2011.

Maximising economic recovery in the UK’s Southern North Sea for Shell and Hartshead Resources Sea for Shell and Hartshead Resources

Petrofac, a leading provider of services to the global energy industry, has been selected by Hartshead Resources to conduct an engineering study to define its Phase I offtake route from their Somerville and Anning gas fields.

The study aims to define an efficient and fast route to increase the UK’s energy security by making the most of Shell’s existing infrastructure in the Southern North Sea. It will provide a basis for the design and cost estimate, and the brownfield modifications needed, to tie-in Hartshead’s proposed new facilities to Shell’s Corvette and Leman A platforms. From there the gas will be transported to Bacton for onshore processing and delivery to the UK’s transmission system.

Hartshead plans to take a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the development, including new platforms, in 2023 and aims to achieve first gas in late 2024.

Nick Shorten, Chief Operating Officer for Petrofac’s Asset Solutions business said:
“It’s great to see Petrofac’s considerable engineering expertise helping to maximise economic recovery. Using Shell’s existing infrastructure to tap into Hartshead’s gas fields will efficiently help support the UK’s energy security at this critical time.”

The scope of Petrofac’s study includes offshore construction support for the subsea pipeline tie-in activities on the Corvette to Leman Alpha export pipeline, communication connections, pipework for system control and export route options and control room integration.

TechnipFMC Awarded Significant Subsea Contract by TotalEnergies for Lapa North East Development

TechnipFMC (NYSE: FTI) has been awarded a significant(1) engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract by TotalEnergies for its Lapa North East field in the pre-salt Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

TechnipFMC will reconfigure and install umbilicals and flexible pipe in a new configuration that will further secure the production of the field.

Jonathan Landes, President, Subsea, at TechnipFMC, commented: “The Brazilian offshore market is becoming more diverse with regard to work scope and customer opportunity. On Lapa North East, we are working with a valued client with whom we have built a trusted relationship. By offering the flexibility of a phased campaign, we are helping TotalEnergies accelerate its schedule and begin production sooner.”

McDermott Selected for Begonia Project by TotalEnergies EP Angola Block

McDermott International has been awarded a significant contract by TotalEnergies EP Angola Block 17/06 for engineering, procurement, supply, construction, installation, pre-commissioning and assistance to commissioning and start-up (EPSCI) on its Begonia Project. The Begonia field is located offshore Angola in water depth between 400 to 750 meters.

The Begonia Project will collect hydrocarbons from a reservoir, via a subsea-to-subsea tie-back to the existing CLOV floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. McDermott will provide all EPSCI services for subsea umbilicals, water injection and production flowlines. There are three production wells in total which are gathered through a multiphase production flowline, approximately 12 miles (20 kilometres) in length. The two water injection wells are connected back to an existing riser.

McDermott will utilize its diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels: The North Ocean 102 will install the umbilicals, and the Amazon will install the rigid pipelines using its world-class J-lay pipeline system and advanced technology.

"This award leverages our extensive subsea and deepwater expertise and is testament to our customer's confidence in our newly converted, state-of-the-art Amazon vessel," said Mahesh Swaminathan, Senior Vice President, Subsea and Deepwater for McDermott. "The Begonia Project represents our first subsea project in Angola and supports our strategic focus to grow our footprint in Africa."

As part the company's commitment to long-term growth and investment in Angola, McDermott plans to maximize the use of local suppliers and subcontractors throughout the project and provide training to develop a local workforce.

Project management and engineering will be executed from McDermott's teams in London and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The fabrication will be executed locally in Angola, West Africa.

Well-Safe Protector to decommission Neptune Energy wells in North Sea

Well-Safe Solutions and Neptune Energy have agreed a contract for the Well-Safe Protector jack-up rig to plug and abandon (P&A) at least four subsea and 21 platform wells in the Dutch and UK sectors of the North Sea.

The one-year, firm contract also enables Neptune Energy to take up Well-Safe’s broad range of decommissioning engineering services if required, as well as the option of up to eight three-month extensions.

Mobilising during Q1 2023 in direct continuation from an earlier well decommissioning project for Ithaca Energy, the Well-Safe Protector is a harsh environment, independent leg cantilever design jack-up rig with an extensive operational history in the North Sea.

Duncan Morison, Rig Manager of the Well-Safe Protector, said: “With the addition of a further backlog of work to the Well-Safe Protector’s schedule, we are delighted at the level of interest the Well-Safe business model continues to generate in mature fields such as the North Sea.

“The Well-Safe Protector boasts a large volume of deck space for tubing, casing and conductor recovery, allowing effective batch operations and helping our clients to realise considerable operational savings.

“There are clear operational synergies between Well-Safe Solutions and Neptune Energy, and we look forward to collaborating with the Neptune team to effectively and efficiently plug and abandon these fields.”

Stuart Payne, NSTA Director of Supply Chain, Decommissioning and HR, added: “We have consistently pressed operators and the supply chain to work in a collaborative way to form well decommissioning campaigns, which are more cost-efficient and help save time and lower emissions.

“The Well-Safe Protector’s upcoming mobilisation for a multi-operator campaign is the latest encouraging sign that industry has got the message loud and clear. The cross-border element of this work also highlights the potential for exporting the considerable decommissioning expertise of the UK supply chain to other regions.”

The announcement follows on from news earlier in the summer that the Well-Safe Protector will plug and abandon six wells on the Anglia platform in the Southern North Sea for Ithaca Energy, mobilising in autumn 2022.

Decommissioning operations will be on D18a-A, G14-B, K12-S2, L10-S2 and K9c-A platforms in the Netherlands and the Neptune-operated Minke and Orca fields

Nova 1st oil: Wintershall Dea increases production volumes in Norway

Wintershall Dea has started production from the own-operated Nova oil field in the Norwegian North Sea together with the project partners Sval Energi and Pandion Energy Norge. It comes on stream at a time where Europe needs every additional barrel it can get. The completion of Nova emphasizes Wintershall Dea’s strength as one of the largest subsea operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“With the start-up of the major project Nova, Wintershall Dea is now operating three subsea production fields in Norway. We are expanding our subsea technology expertise and meanwhile three further tieback-developments, including Dvalin, are in the planning. As a subsea operator we are committed to making the most of the infrastructure that Norway has spent decades developing, as well as maintaining a low-carbon intensity portfolio while producing the energy that Europe needs,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea Member of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer.

ADDING VALUE FOR NORWAY WITH LOW-EMISSIONS SOLUTIONS


This new field is a prime example for energy deliveries using existing infrastructure in the area: Nova is a tieback to the nearby Gjøa platform, which is sustainably electrified with renewable power from shore. The Neptune Energy-operated host platform will provide gas lift and water injection to the field and receives the Nova hydrocarbons. The tieback solution further extends the economic lifetime and increases the profitability of the Gjøa field, in which Wintershall Dea has a 28% share.

Nova Project director André Hesse said: “This is a big moment for Wintershall Dea and everyone involved. Thanks to the hard work of our project team, our suppliers, license partners and the host operator, we could overcome challenges by a strong and consistent team effort. A big thank you to everyone who made this happen!”

STRENGTHENING LOW-CARBON SUBSEA PRODUCTION AND INCREASING EUROPE’S ENERGY SUPPLY SECURITY

With Nova, Wintershall Dea is increasing Europe’s energy supply in a time of need. When the Dvalin field and the partner-operated Njord Future-project, in which Wintershall Dea holds a 50% share, come on stream as currently planned later this year, Wintershall Dea will provide significant further gas and oil volumes to Europe. In addition, the company operates recent discoveries like Dvalin North, planned for PDO hand-in (Plan for Development and Operations) by the end of 2022, and several other discoveries which could be developed in the future. For instance, Wintershall Dea is a partner in the Aker BP-operated Storjo discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

“By exploring for and developing new fields near existing infrastructure, we are not only delivering new barrels, we are also potentially extending the lifetime of surrounding assets. This secures the possibility for future tie-ins, and returns value to the partnership, suppliers, and the Norwegian society” said Michael Zechner, Managing Director at Wintershall Dea Norge.

Wintershall Dea, Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company, has ambitions to be net zero across its entire upstream operations by 2030, both operated and non-operated. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions at equity share basis. As Gjøa is powered via hydropower from the Norwegian mainland, Nova will be a low carbon-intensity field and contribute to Wintershall Dea’s excellent emission reduction performance.


ABOUT NOVA

Nova is located in the Norwegian North Sea, about 120 kilometres northwest of Bergen and approximately 17 kilometres southwest of Gjøa. The water depth is roughly 370 metres. The Nova field consists of two subsea templates, one with three oil producers and one with three water injectors, tied back to the Gjøa platform.

The expected recoverable gross reserves from the field are estimated at 90 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), of which the majority will be oil. This would be sufficient to cover Berlin’s oil demand for more than five years.1

Oil from Nova will be transported via Gjøa through the Troll Oil Pipeline II to Mongstad in Norway, associated gas will be exported via the Far North Liquids and Associated Gas System (FLAGS) pipeline to St Fergus in the UK, supplying the European energy market.

Wintershall Dea is operator of the Nova field with a 45% share. Sval Energi also has a 45% share and Pandion Energy Norge owns 10%. Wintershall Dea has entered into an agreement to transfer a 6% share of the Nova field to OKEA. Completion is expected in Q4 2022 and Wintershall Dea’s share will then be lowered to 39%.

McDermott Completes Process Module Sail Away on Tyra Redevelopment Project

McDermott International has successfully completed the sail away of the Tyra East G (TEG) gas processing module on the Tyra Redevelopment Project for TotalEnergies and its Danish Underground Consortium partners Noreco and Nordsøfonden.

The module weighs approximately 18,700 tons (17,000 metric tons) and set sail on September 1 from McDermott's facility in Batam, Indonesia. This important milestone is the culmination of more than 18.8 million work hours of engineering and constructing the process module.

"This is an incredible milestone on a large-scale and complex project. As an engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning contractor for the Tyra Redevelopment, we leveraged synergies throughout the lifecycle of the project while maintaining a high focus on safety," said Tareq Kawash, Senior Vice President, Onshore of McDermott. "We are proud that our work contributes to TotalEnergies' vision and pursuit of sustainable North Sea operations."

The TEG module will be a crucial part of Tyra II; the new high-tech hub for Denmark's natural gas production and will reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent.

"The sail away of the process module is of key importance for the Tyra Redevelopment Project as it marks the conclusion of onshore construction, and with this all the remaining work on Tyra II will take place in the Danish North Sea. The sheer size and magnitude of the process module is just incredible, and it will be fabulous to unite this final major component with the remaining platforms at the Tyra field in the next month," said Eric Delattre, Managing Director for TotalEnergies Exploration & Production Denmark.

The Tyra Redevelopment project represents the largest ever oil and gas investment in the Danish North Sea. Once the redeveloped Tyra II is back on stream, it is expected to deliver 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year which amounts to 80 percent of the forecasted Danish gas production. Tyra II will secure continued production of natural gas with 30 percent less CO2 emissions, significantly contributing to Denmark's energy security by reducing Denmark and the EU's dependency on Russian gas. The new facilities will be located approximately 139 miles (225 kilometers) west of Denmark in the North Sea.