Ithaca Energy Inc. announces that it has met major scheduled milestones for the Athena project and on site subsea installation work and rig based operations are on schedule.
The Company will present the Athena project today at 9.30 a.m. in London; the presentation is available on the Company’s website.
Key milestones achieved:
• The drilling rig, Sedco 704, has now successfully completed four of the five development wells for production. The fifth and final well will finish in mid October after which the rig will be demobilised.
• Installation of the FPSO mooring system, riser base and subsea manifold have been completed utilising the Boa Deep C construction support vessel all of which are fundamental for the hook up between the BW Athena Floating Production Storage and Offtake (“FPSO”) vessel and the subsea facilities.
• All topsides equipment on the BW Athena FPSO has been installed. Mechanical completion will occur in October and commissioning will commence.
Forward plan:
• Installation of the subsea flowlines and umbilicals is underway and will be completed during October by the Boa Deep C and the subsea facilities will then be hooked up utilising the Bibby Topaz DSV (Dive Support Vessel).
• The vessel will leave Dubai around mid November to arrive in the field in December. The transit will take approximately 20 days and involves passage through the Suez Canal.
• The start up procedure in the field will take approximately 14 days to complete. This involves securing the vessel over the STP buoy, final hook up and commissioning of all surface and subsea systems.
• The Company continues to exercise tight control over remaining aspects of overall work programme. Potential risks remain to the schedule of adverse weather conditions or unexpected start-up procedure and commissioning delays
The project remains within budget and first oil is anticipated in Q4 2011.
About Ithaca Energy:
Ithaca Energy Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited (“Ithaca” or “the Company”), is an oil and gas exploration, development and production company active in the United Kingdom’s Continental Shelf (“UKCS”). The goal of Ithaca, in the near term, is to maximize production and achieve early production from the development of existing discoveries on properties held by Ithaca, to originate and participate in exploration and appraisal on properties held by Ithaca when capital permits, and to consider other opportunities for growth as they are identified from time to time by Ithaca.
[mappress] Source: Ithaca Energy, October 11 , 2011