London-listed oil company Premier Oil has informed that the completed jacket and topside are now en route to the company's Tolmount field in the UK sector of the North Sea.
The 500 bcf field, sanctioned in 2018, had been on schedule for first gas by the end of the year, but COVID-19 then struck, leading to a lockdown in March at the Rosetti Marino yard where the platform was being built, and consequently, delaying the first gas date.
Work at the platform resumed in May, and the facilities were in August loaded on a Heerema barge in Ravenna. Premier Oil on Monday said that the barge, with the Tolmount jacket and topside, had set sail to the UK.
Rosetti Marino said that the barge sailed away last Saturday from its Rosetti Piomboni Yard in Marina di Ravenna and that it would take around 30 days to reach its final destination, the Tolmount Main Field.
The offshore facilities will upon arrival in the Southern North Sea off the UK, be installed by Heerema Marine Contractors' giant semi-submersible crane vessel - the Sleipnir. The installation works are scheduled for late September/early October period.
After the installation, Premier Oil will mobilize a drilling rig to the location to drill four development wells.
First gas from the Premier-operated Tolmount field is forecast for the second quarter of 2021 with the field expected to add 20-25 kboepd to the company production once up at plateau rates later in 2021. Gas from the field will be shipped to shore via pipeline.
The partners in the Tolmount gas field are Premier (50%) and Dana Petroleum (50%).