BP has reached a major milestone with its Quad 204 redevelopment project 175km west of Shetland.
The firm's new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Glen Lyon, has left Hyundai Heavy Industries' yard in South Korea and started sea trials, ahead of setting sail for the UK sector. At 270m-long and 52m-wide, the unit is one of the largest FPSOs in the North Sea. Watch a construction time lapse video of the FPSO below.
Schiehallion was discovered in 1993, and Loyal a year later, with production starting in 1998 from the Schiehallion FPSO, which the Glen Lyon will replace. Schiehallion and Loyal together had more than a billion barrels in place and recovery to date had been about 15%.
Recognizing the greater potential of the area – BP has produced ~400 MMbo to date and thinks there at least that still to be had – and both the falling efficiency and limitations of the Schiehallion FPSO, the operator, with partners Shell and OMV, decided to redevelop the field through the Quad 204 project, investing in the new, higher capacity Glen Lyon FPSO, subsea infrastructure renewal, a seven-year drilling program, with at least 20 new wells planned, as well as potential polymer enhanced oil recovery facilities. As a result, BP hopes it can maximize recovery to above 30% and extend production out to at least 2035.
Key to the project has been improving liquids handling capability. The Glen Lyon, due onstream in 2016, will have 320,000 b/d liquids capacity. It will be needed. Some 380,000 b/d of water injection capacity will be installed to sweep the field and maintain pressure, with the vessel having a capacity to produce 130,000 bo/d.
Trevor Garlick, Regional President for BP’s North Sea business said: “The Schiehallion and Loyal oil fields are established assets with a strong future and through this investment, we and our co-venturers Shell and OMV are taking some significant steps to maximize the greater potential we now see in these fields.”
Drilling has already started on the field, with Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Aberdeen on a seven-year contract in the field.
BP owns 36.3%, with other interests as follows: Shell 54.03%, OMV 9.67%.
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Image. The Glen Lyon FPSO. Photo from BP.
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