DNV GL to support Shell’s Penguins field redevelopment

Classification society DNV GL has won a cross-service contract to support Shell’s Penguins field redevelopment on the UK Continental Shelf.

Shell made a final investment decision on the redevelopment of the Penguins oil and gas field in the UK North Sea in January 2018.

Fluor was awarded the FPSO engineering, procurement and construction contract and Sevan Marine a contract to provide the technology for the circular FPSO and technical support during the design phase of the project.

DNV GL’s contract with Shell involves a team which will deliver an integrated verification and class project for the operator’s Penguins floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, DNV GL said on Thursday.

DNV GL is providing integrated Verification and Class services to the project. This will be led by a team in UK Oil & Gas, collaborating with the DNV GL Offshore Class unit in Norway and the DNV GL yard team in China and the Philippines.

Justin Fletcher, DNV GL’s Project Manager for the mega project says, “DNV GL has been supporting Shell with this project since 2015, and it is very exciting to finally reach the execution phase.”

The Penguins field is in 165 meters (541 feet) of water, approximately 150 miles north east of the Shetland Islands. Discovered in 1974, the field was first developed in 2002 and is a joint venture between Shell (50% and operator) and ExxonMobil (50%).

The Penguins field currently processes oil and gas using four existing drill centers tied back to the Brent Charlie platform. The redevelopment of the field, required when Brent Charlie ceases production will see an additional eight wells drilled, which will be tied back to the new FPSO vessel. Natural gas will be exported through the tie-in of existing subsea facilities and additional pipeline infrastructure.

Hari Vamadevan, Regional Manager, UK and West Africa, Oil & Gas said: “ We are starting to see an increase in activity in the North Sea. It is good news. This contract award from Shell brings with it a renewed optimism in the UKCS.”

The project is several months into detailed design, and DNV GL is fully engaged with design approval and with the initial phases of steel cutting. The FPSO is scheduled to leave the yard, COOEC (Qingdao, China) in 1Q 2021.