Aquatic Engineering & Construction has been subcontracted to Bibby Offshore to replace subsea infrastructure in the Central North Sea as part of BP’s US$1billion Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) life extension project.
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Image of the carousel at Smith Quay, from Aquatic. |
Aquatic will deploy its carousel system to install 35km of umbilical ensuring electrical control capability between ETAP’s central processing facility and the Machar field.
The umbilical lay campaign is scheduled to commence in June and is expected to last approximately 30 days. This is the first phase of Bibby’s five-vessel campaign, involving trenching, structure and riser installation followed by electrical diagnostics and commissioning works. Aquatic has also been subcontracted to provide lay equipment and personnel for the riser installation campaign in September of this year.
ETAP, located 240km east of Aberdeen, is one of the largest and most complex developments in the North Sea, comprising nine oil and gas reservoirs, six of which are operated by BP. The ETAP Life Extension Project (ELXP) will help secure the future of the fields until 2030 and beyond.
Aquatic will be providing a team of offshore supervisors and technicians to mobilize and operate its on-deck 1500-tonne carousel and integrated 5-tonne tensioner system, as well as a 15-tonne two-track tensioner complete with all ancillary equipment.
Aquatic’s partner, James Fisher Offshore (JFO), will be providing a 20-tonne abandon and recovery winch to support the operation. A key characteristic of the Aquatic-JFO alliance is that, on this occasion, the Aquatic offshore team will be managing and operating the JFO equipment, thereby optimizing back deck personnel during the month-long operation. Aquatic will be the sole point of contact for the customer in supplying and managing the back deck equipment portfolio for this project.
Aquatic hosted a two-day event prior to the mobilization, using this North Sea opportunity to bring specially invited customers, shareholders, media, partners and employees to Smith Quay in Peterhead, Scotland, to see the carousel first hand before operations commenced.
“With Aquatic’s 1500-tonne modular carousel mobilizing out of Peterhead, we decided this would be an excellent opportunity to bring together our stakeholders from across the EMEA and provide a demonstration of its capabilities and our strength in depth in the region,” Steven Kilpatrick, Aquatic regional manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region said. “In the current economic climate, many leading oil and gas providers are taking the opportunity to reinvigorate areas of their fields that need more specialist operational support and we are engaged in a number of North Sea opportunities.”
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