Oilfield services firm Petrofac has been appointed duty holder on the Anasuria cluster, in the UK North Sea.
The role is in support of the Anasuria Operating Company (AOC), a UK joint venture formed between Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad (Hibiscus) and Ping Petroleum (Ping), which recently acquired the Anasuria cluster, including the Anasuria floating production vessel, from major Shell.
The initial five-year contract, which has additional options to extend, is worth about US$250 million and secures 65 jobs, with most of the offshore personnel currently supporting the asset transferring to Petrofac.
The Anasuria cluster is 175km east of Aberdeen and consist of a 100% interest in the Anasuria FPSO, Teal, Teal South, Guillemot A fields and a 38.65% interest in the Cook field. AOC was incorporated by Ping and Hibiscus to act as license operator.
Under this scope Petrofac will assume full responsibility on behalf of AOC for the FPSO operations as well as for monitoring and managing the pipelines and wells with the exception of the Cook well.
Within this contract the responsibilities for installation operator (including duty holder), pipeline operator and well operator are being combined for the first time within Petrofac's service operator model. This approach evolves the outsourced duty holder service which Petrofac pioneered in 1997 and will provide an integrated, aligned approach to the operation and development of the cluster.
Walter Thain, Managing Director - West, Petrofac Engineering & Production Services said: "AOC's acquisition of the Anasuria cluster is really an investment in the future of the North Sea and it is a positive development for our industry during these challenging times."
Mark Paton, Vice President of New Ventures and Production for Hibiscus Petroleum said: "We are new entrants to the North Sea but we have experienced people and we aim to bring a fresh perspective along with our investment, to improve asset returns and extend the field life of Anasuria for the benefit of all stakeholders and employees."