Ashtead Wraps Up Project For BP’s Quad 204

Ashtead Technology, a subsea technology and equipment provider, has completed a subsea integrity management project for BP’s Quad 204 redevelopment of the West of Shetland’s Schiehallion and Loyal fields.

For the project, the company said crucial data needed to safely deploy and install two subsea manifolds at water depths of 400 m was collected using its new Deflection Monitoring System (DMS), which was optimized to the pressures and water depths required for the job.

“The system monitors deflection, heading, pitch, roll, depth and other parameters of subsea structures in real time,” Ashtead said in a news release. “This allows informed decisions to be made during critical operations, ensuring specified tolerances and safety requirements are taken into account.”

Acoustic data links and radio frequency enable Ashtead to control the project remotely, eliminating the need for direct ROV or diver support intervention to collect measurements.

“In today’s increasingly harsh exploratory environments, data is key—it allows us to ensure subsea structures are installed to meet the differing complexities of developments around the world, offering long-term reliability and safety,” Ashtead Technology CEO Allan Pirie said.

The subsea manifolds were installed within 24 hours of the DMS being deployed. BP’s Quad 204 includes a new FPSO and upgraded subsea infrastructure. The project is expected to enable the potential recovery of an additional 400 million barrels of resource from the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, extending production into 2035.

Norway Clears Shell For Knarr, Gaupe Use

Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority has given Shell permission to use the facilities at Knarr and Gaupe offshore the U.K. after a change of operatorship with BG Norge.

In a news release Aug. 25, the agency said that the previous operator had already given Shell consent, but the company applied for permission to use the facilities.

The Knarr oil field is located in the North Sea, northeast of the Snorre development; while, the Gaupe oil and gas field lies near the U.K.-Norway boundary, south of Varg. Gaupe was developed using two subsea wells, with the well stream taken to the Armada facility on the UK shelf. Also a subsea development, the Knarr field was development using the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO.

Claxton Completes Well Abandonment Duties

Claxton, an Acteon company, said it has completed its involvement in the abandonment of two wells on the Horne and Wren Platform in the Southern North Sea, wrapping up the job within 18 days.

The company was responsible for tubing cut verification, tubing recovery, sub-mudline abrasive conductor severance, conductor cut verification and the subsequent multi-string recovery from both wells, according to a news release. Claxton said its use of a jackup lift barge, instead of a rig, for multi-string severance cut costs.

“The Horne and Wren platform has a small 8m x 8m weather deck footprint, creating a space challenge which we managed to overcome. As well as using our latest evolution of the ‘SABRE’ abrasive cutting system, this project also required a full, bespoke, light weight work package,” Rob Horton, project engineer for Claxton, said in the statement.

“This included a hydraulic proving system and a utility crane to ensure self-sufficiency in handling our equipment,” Horton added. “Proving of tubing and conductor cuts were completed with the same system, enabling us to reduce equipment, time and money for the client.”

—Staff Reports

Offshore