Aker Solutions secured a front-end engineering and design contract from Nexen Petroleum UK for a second phase development of the UK’s highest producing oil field.
The study on the Buzzard field development includes the design of the subsea manifolds and pipelines. The project could see up to 12 subsea trees added to the field. The work is being delivered by Aker Solutions’ front end design team in the UK and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Buzzard field is in the central North Sea, 100km north-east of Aberdeen. It has an estimated 1.5 billion bbl in place and came on stream in 2006.
Buzzard is developed by a four-platform complex, with 36 producing wells and 11 water injectors. Oil from the field is exported via the Forties pipeline to the Kinneil Terminal in Scotland and gas is exported via the Frigg system to the St. Fergus Terminal.
According to partner ONE, the Buzzard phase II project aims to develop the reserves in the Northern Area, which cannot be reached from the existing platform complex.