The Glen Lyon FPSO unit has docked at Aibel’s Haugesund yard in Norway where it will undergo final preparations for deployment to BP’s Schiehallion (32/24) Field in the U.K. North Sea. With a length of 270 m and a width of 52 m, Glen Lyon is the largest FPSO vessel ever to dock at Aibel Haugesund. The vessel is expected to stay in Haugesund for about two months. The workscope includes various marine operations and fabrication activities. Aibel also will assist BP with a function test of a mechanical winch.

Premier Oil is targeting a sanction decision on its offshore Falklands Sea Lion (SEN, 32/21) FPSO development in mid-2017. Partner Rockhopper said that if this is achieved it would result in a target first oil date during 2020. SBM Offshore is carrying out the FEED study for the FPSO, with work anticipated to take between 15 and 18 months to complete. The FEED contract for SURF transport and installation was entered into with Subsea7 for flexibles with National Oilwell Varco and for the subsea production system with One Subsea. An application also has been made to the Falkland Islands Government to extend the licence for the Sea Lion Discovery Area in PL032. Phase 1a of the development will utilise 18 wells to recover 220 MMbbl of oil during a 20-year period. Peak production at the field will be 85,000 bbl/d. Pierre Jungels, chairman of Rockhopper, said, “Going forward, we anticipate additional cost reduction opportunities being pursued during FEED to further enhance the economics of the Sea Lion project as we move towards a project sanction decision point in mid-2017. Premier Oil has confirmed its intention to seek an additional partner ahead of taking project sanction, and Rockhopper will support Premier Oil in this initiative.”

The Goliat (33/1) Field was officially inaugurated by Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tord Lien, on April 18. Goliat is the first oil field to come onstream in the Barents Sea. Production at Goliat started on March 12 and was followed by a production ramp-up of all wells. Full reinjection of associated gas into the reservoir has started, and reinjection of produced water to minimise environmental impact will begin soon. The platform has a production capacity of 100,000 bbl/d and storage capacity of 950 Mbbl.

DeepOcean has picked up a three-year contract, with options for two additional years, to provide a light construction vessel to Tullow Ghana. DeepOcean’s DP2 ROV/construction vessel Dina Star began offshore activities in mid-March. The scope of work includes inspection, maintenance and repair, surveys and subsea construction on the Tullow Ghana operated deepwater Jubilee (32/23) and Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) (33/1) fields offshore Ghana. The vessel replaces the Rem Forza, which will now provide accommodation and construction support on the TEN project from March 2016.

Fugro has been awarded a contract by India’s ONGC for the provision of ROV services on board the Sagar Vijay drillship. The contract involves providing support for deepwater drilling operations off the east coast of India in depths up to 900 m. The Fugro ROV will carry out seabed surveys, monitoring of subsea drilling operations, guideline cutting and reinstallation and remote intervention. Fugro also will provide drill support tooling during the 18-month project, which is expected to commence in May 2016.

GE Oil & Gas has kicked off production of four HP/HT dynamic flexible risers for Shell’s Prelude (33/1) floating LNG project off the coast of Western Australia. GE has partnered with Shell on the project since 2011, following an initial order for turbomachinery equipment. The two companies have since collaborated on the subsea flexibles scope. GE will complete manufacture of the flexible risers at its facility in Newcastle, U.K., where it has invested more than $21 million to expand its production carousel capacity, enhancing manufacturing capabilities and equipping the site with the ability to accommodate larger diameter risers, which can be produced and delivered in optimum single lengths. The new carousel bays were officially opened in April 2014. Once manufactured, the flexible risers will be packaged onto purpose built large-diameter reels and transported more than 11,000 km between Newcastle and Southeast Asia in readiness for subsea installation.

Songa Offshore has received an acknowledgement of compliance from Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority for the Songa Encourage semisubmersible drilling rig.

Ezra, and EMAS Offshore Production Service have sold their combined 78.4% stake in the Lewek EMAS FPSO unit to a global infrastructure investment firm. The vessel is chartered to Premier Oil as operator of the Chim Sao (31/9) Field offshore southern Vietnam. Lionel Lee, group CEO and managing director of Ezra, said, “This transaction is fully in line with the group’s strategy to move away from ownership of FPSO assets and will allow us to streamline our resources. Furthermore, it will allow us to move towards capitalising on the capabilities and experience we have harnessed from FPSO conversions and to build a franchise based on providing higher value-added services.”

Offshore