A flagship £1.6billion North Sea project that was expected to come onstream at the end of the month has suffered a setback.
Repsol Sinopec Resources UK (RSRUK) confirmed today that its first new field in the Montrose Area Redevelopment(MAR), due to produce first oil at the end of Q1, 2017, would not start up until Q2.
The announcement came despite numerous denials from the company that bad weather could delay the project.
Charters for an accommodation vessel had to be renewed four times after running out of contract but Respol said it would not delay first oil from Shaw field.
However, in a statement released this morning Repsol said first production from the MAR was “imminent” but that it would be in Q2 not Q1 as forecasted.
The MAR project involves the modification and expansion of the existing infrastructure as well as the development of three new fields – Godwin, Cayley and Shaw.
The lifespan of the area’s existing fields, including the includes the Montrose, Arbroath, Arkwright, Brechin, Wood, is expected to be prolonged by at least 13 years, to beyond 2030.
Shaw is being developed as a subsea tie-back to a new bridge linked platform, whose installation was announced in May 2016.
RSRUK is the operator of MAR with a working interest of 58.97%. Marubeni Oil & Gas (UK) is the sole partner.
The Montrose area includes the Montrose, Arbroath, Arkwright, Brechin, Wood, Godwin, Shaw and Cayley fields.
RSRUK is jointly owned by Repsol (51%) and Chinese firm Sinopec Group (49%) following the Spanish energy giant’s acquisition of the global assets of the former Talisman Energy in 2015.
It operates 10 fixed offshore platforms, two floating production facilities, and an onshore terminal at Flotta in Orkney.
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