Exxon Mobil has turned the taps on at its Erha North Phase 2 (SEN, 31/14) deepwater subsea development offshore Nigeria.

Phase 2 includes seven wells from three drill centres tied back to the existing Erha North FPSO vessel.

The project is expected to develop an additional 165 MMbbl from the currently producing Erha North Field. Peak production from the expansion is currently estimated at 65,000 bbl/d of oil and will increase total Erha North Field production to about 90,000 bbl/d.

“Executing successful projects such as Erha North Phase 2 ahead of schedule and under budget results from Exxon Mobil’s disciplined project management approach and expertise,” said Neil W. Duffin, president of Exxon Mobil.

Duffin said the ahead-of-schedule startup was supported by strong performance from Nigerian contractors, which accounted for more than $2 billion of project investment for goods and services, including subsea equipment, facilities and offshore installation.

The Erha North Field was discovered in 2004 and IP commenced in 2006.

Woodside has tapped Aibel to carry out the FEED work for a subsea tieback to the Ngujima-Yin FPSO as part of the Greater Enfield (32/5) development offshore Australia.

The FPSO will undergo modifications to the topsides, hull and turret. Aibel’s scope of work includes management, engineering and provision of procurement services for FEED. The contract also holds an option for the project’s execution phase.

The Ngujima-Yin FPSO is operating on Woodside’s producing Vincent (32/5) oil field.

Heavy transportation and lifting contractor ALE has mated the topsides for the deepwater Malikai (31/12) tension-leg platform with the hull at Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering’s yard in Malaysia.

ALE was given the scope of weighing and transporting four unit hull blocks, living quarters and mega beams for what it called the “superlift” activities.

Modec has signed a contract with Maersk Oil UK to supply a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel for the Culzean (32/12) development project in the North Sea.

Modec is responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the FSO.

Sofec, a subsidiary of Modec, will design and supply the internal turret mooring system.

The FSO will have receiving capacity of 25,000 bbl/d of condensate and storage capacity of 350,000 Mbbl/d. The complete unit will be delivered to Maersk Oil UK in first-half 2018.

Offshore