The Catcher floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel has set sail for the UK to work on Premier Oil's Catcher field.
The unit, built at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore, and owned and operated by BW Offshore, is expected to reach UK waters early in Q4.
The Catcher area is expected to produce 96 MMboe, with a peak production rate of around 50,000 b/d. The development will comprise 20 subsea wells (14 producers and eight water injectors) on the Catcher, Varadero, and Burgman fields, tied back to the BW Catcher FPSO, under a seven-year fixed term contract, with extension options of up to 18 years. Based on a 10-year field life, the contract value is US$2.3 billion, including FPSO charter rate and opex.
“The BW Catcher has been completed on time and within budget, and we are especially pleased with the good HSE performance during the construction project. We have worked over 11 million man hours without a lost time injury and in total around 19 million man hours. The FPSO is now underway to the North Sea for hook-up at the Catcher field, and with first oil scheduled later this year,” said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Offshore.
BW Catcher has an oil storage capacity of 650,000 bbl and a processing capacity of 60,000 b/d. The FPSO has a design life of 20 years of uninterrupted operations, and will be moored using a submerged turret production system.