Maersk Oil’s Gryphon Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel will soon be docked in Rotterdam for repairs after suffering damage during a storm in the UK North Sea in February.
The FPSO had been producing from the Gryphon, Maclure and Tullich fields. Storm weather caused some of its anchors to snap, allowing it to move off station before the vessel was secured again.
Pre-engineering work for the Gryphon FPSO is being carried out by the Damen shipyard in Rotterdam, and it is expected the FPSO will be ready to leave station and sail away by the end of May. Gryphon is likely to return to the field in Spring 2012. While Gryphon is away, repair work will be done to subsurface infrastructure. Subsurface wells and manifolds were not damaged.
“This has been a busy period for Maersk Oil in the UK; our staff and contractors have been working very hard to deal with the fallout of the damage to Gryphon and ensure that the safety of people and our assets has been safeguarded,” said Martin Pedersen, Managing Director of Maersk Oil in the UK .
“Maersk Oil has been fully engaged with the Health and Safety Executive throughout the damage assessment and investigation process, and whilst Gryphon is undergoing repairs there will be a key focus on the mooring systems and heading controls.”
Oil production from Gryphon normally contributes about a third of total Maersk Oil oil production in the UK. Maersk Oil is now reviewing options for further development of the field to maximise future oil and gas recovery.
In the meantime, Maersk Oil has been busy with a number of other exploration and development activities in the UK, including the Culzean gas discovery, the Golden Eagle oil field development and plans to develop Flyndre.
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Source: MaerskOil, May 11, 2011; Image: Damen