BW Offshore-owned FPSO BW Catcher arrived at the Premier Oil-operated Catcher field in the UK sector of the North Sea last Wednesday, October 18.
The FPSO Catcher started its journey from Singapore, where it was built by Keppel Shipyard, in late August following completion of sea trials . It arrived in Nigg on October 8 and was deployed in the field on October 18, Premier Oil informed on Monday, October 23.
The hook up of the Submerged Turret Production (STP) buoy mooring system was completed on October 19 with the vessel successfully completing a rotation test around the buoy on October 20, the company added. The vessel is 241 meters long, 50 meters wide and 27 meters deep and it will be able to process up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day.
The final pull-in of the risers and umbilicals is now underway and commissioning activities have also started in parallel. The commissioning activities are expected to last for 3-4 weeks. The delivery of first oil remains on schedule by the end of the year.
The Catcher development, made up of several fields discovered between 2010 and 2013, is located 170 kilometers south-east of Aberdeen. The development entails 22 subsea wells, 14 producers and 8 water injectors, on the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields which will be tied back to the BW Catcher FPSO.
Field ramp up will be over 3-4 month period with Catcher being the first field online followed by Varadero and Burgman. Catcher is the initial field on production due to it’s crude oil stability and it has the lowest gas to oil content of the three fields. At this time, full field plateau production of 60kbopd will be achieved.
Offshore Energy Today Staff