Catcher FPSO begins seven-year contract with Premier

BW Offshore-owned FPSO BW Catcher has received the First Oil Certificate following the successful completion of an interim performance test.

BW Offshore said last Sunday that the Catcher FPSO received the certificate on January 6, 2018.

The certificate was awarded after the successful completion of a 72-hour interim performance test following first oil from the Premier-operated Catcher development in the North Sea on December 23, 2017 with initial stabilized production at a rate of around 10,000 bpd.

Premier plans to ramp up Catcher production to approximately 60,000 barrels of oil per day during the first half of 2018.

BW Offshore explained that the certificate confirms the beginning of a seven-year fixed term contract, with extension options of up to 18 years.

The Catcher development, made up of several fields discovered between 2010 and 2013, is located 170 kilometers south-east of Aberdeen.

The field partnership is made up of Premier Oil (50%), Cairn Energy (20%), MOL Group (20%), and Dyas (10%). The entire Catcher 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.

The unit has an oil storage capacity of 650,000 barrels and a processing capacity of up to 60,000 barrels per day. The BW Catcher FPSO has a design life of 20 years of uninterrupted operations.

In related news, BW Offshore has been awarded a contract extension for its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Polvo operating offshore Brazil.