Lundin's CEO has slated Shell and FPSO operator Bluewater for delays on the Brynhild project startup.
Brynhild, which sits in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, will be a four-well subsea tieback to Bluewater’s Haewene Brim, which produces the Shell-operated Pierce field, 38km from Brynhild, in the UK sector.
First production had been planned for the end of 2013. In June, Lundin, which operates and holds 90% interest in Brynhild, said that had been set back to Q3 2014.
Image: The Haewene Brim during drydocking.
Announcing the firm's Q2 results, which were impacted by the delay to start up on Brynhild, the firm said the FPSO had now been re-moored at the Pierce field and that new production risers have been hooked-up, with commissioning work ongoing.
But, Ashley Heppenstall, Lundin's CEO and president, said the delays had been frustrating and that Shell and Bluewater had been unable to complete the FPSO-related workscope on schedule.
He said: "We have faced frustrating delays with the Brynhild development project, offshore Norway. The Brynhild field is a subsea development which is tied back to the Shell operated Pierce field facilities in the UK sector. The Pierce field production facility is the Bluewater operated Haewene Brim FPSO.
"The subsea element of the development is completed and development well capacity is ready to commence production. The delay to Brynhild first production has been a direct result of the inability of Shell and Bluewater to complete the FPSO related work scope on schedule to ensure the vessel is ready to recommence Pierce production and accept Brynhild oil.
"We are close to first oil which is now forecast in late September but based upon historically low levels of productivity and continued work scope changes I have low confidence in the Shell/Bluewater schedule and realistically expect Brynhild first oil to slip into the fourth quarter."
When the Haewene Brim went into drydock at Nigg, Scotland, last year, it was the first time the yard had accomodated an FPSO. The original dry dock scope had been planned to be much shorter than it turned out.
Read more: Haewene Brim at Cromarty
The Hæwene Brim was converted from a shuttle tanker to an FPSO at the Aker McNulty yard in Newcastle in late 1997-1998, and started operating at the Pierce field early in 1999.
The Haewene Brim last drydocked at A&P Tyne’s number 5 dock on Tyneside, England, in 2004, for the addition of a water injection stopides module and hull maintenance, led by a partnership between A&P Tyne and McNulty Offshore Contractors.
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