Engineering and project management group AMEC has been awarded the front end engineering and design contract for a tension leg platform for Premier Oil's Falklands Sea Lion development.
AMEC will be responsible for the design of the 30,000-tonne TLP, with the potential to provide continued support to Premier through the detailed design and fabrication phases of the project. The FEED covers a fully integrated scope for the hull, production topsides and drilling facilities and will deliver a solution focused on constructability and operability, said partner Rockhopper Exploration.
AMEC said it will carry out the project from its London design office, supported by subcontractors KCA Deutag in London and Houston Offshore Engineering in Houston.
Premier Oil is operator of the Sea Lion field, 200km north of the Falkland islands, with Rockhopper, which discovered the field, holding 40% equity. The development concept for Sea Lion is a tension leg platform (TLP). Read more: Tension legs for Sea Lion
In 2H this year, a geotechnical survey will be performed at the Sea Lion location and the results of this will be incorporated into the FEED process, which is expected to take around 12 months.
Premier estimates it will spend US$3.8 billion before first oil, and $2.4 billion for the first phase to tap Sea Lion. Reserves in the discovery are estimated at 293MMbbls.
The Sea Lion oil discovery was made in financial year 2010, and Premier farmed in for 60% of Rockhopper’s license interests in the North Falklands basin, including the Sea Lion discovery, in July 2012.
Sam Moody, Rockhopper's CEO, said: "We are delighted that the FEED contract for the Sea Lion field has been formally awarded to a world class engineering firm such as AMEC. This is a highly significant milestone in our plans to develop the discovery and comes on the back of our recent announcement that a rig has been signed to undertake a new exploration drilling campaign in the North Falkland Basin early next year. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Premier as we move the Sea Lion project towards Final Investment Decision."
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