Premier Oil is ramping up towards offshore installation work on its Solan field development in Block 205/26a, in 135m water depth, west of Shetland, in the UK North Sea.
Construction and onshore commissioning of the four-legged Solan jacket and topsides at Burnisland Fabrications' yards in Methil and Arnish are nearing completion and an Atkins-designed subsea oil storage tank (with oil stored over ballast water) for the project sailed from Drydocks World, Dubai, in June.
The offshore installation and heavy lift campaign is targeted to start in August, ahead of hook up and final commissioning by contractor Aker Solutions, said Premier today.
The platform, which will not be permanently manned, will produce oil that will be stored in the subsea tank before being exported via an oil-offloading system to shuttle tankers.
The development will comprise a minimum four subsea wells, with 5000-6000ft horizontal sections, using wire wrap screen for sand control and dual electrical submersible pumps to boost production rates. The subsea trees (Vetco and FMC)/wells will be remotely controlled from onshroe via the production platform. Once brought online, Solan is expected to produce 40 million barrels of oil at an initial rate of 24,000 barrels per day.
Total project cost, including spend beyond first oil, is now estimated at US$1.4 billion, Premier said today.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change approved Premier's plans for the Solan oil field in April 2012. Solan is a Jurassic field and is expected to produce about 40MM bbl over its lifetime, with initial production of around 24,000 bbl/d.
The field was originally discovered in the 1990s, but remained inactive until it was rescued by Chrysaor in 2007 as part of DECC's fallow discovery initiative. Chrysaor carried out two successful appraisal drilling campaigns, in 2008 and 2009, before approaching potential partners. Premier farmed-in to the field in 2011.