DSME delivers topside module for Statoil’s UK project

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine & Engineering has delivered a topside module to Norway’s Statoil for what the company said was a UK North Sea project.

The Korean shipbuilder on Monday issued a statement on the delivery, along with a photo of Boskalis’ Mighty Servant I heavy transportation vessel carrying what seems to be a part of the Mariner platform.

According to the DSME, the delivery is part of a $2.7 billion contract. In fact, DSME said, (according to a statement translated from Korean by Google Translate) that the original contract from 2012 was around $1.8 billion.

This corresponds to the amount awarded in 2012 for Statoil’s Mariner project in the UK North Sea. The amount increased to $2.7 billion due to the changes in the design and specifications.

Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Statoil, and Boskalis – the owner of the vessel – seeking more details on the Mighty Servant I’s load.

A Statoil spokesperson has confirmed the topside modules loaded on the vessel are a part of the Mariner project.

Later on, a Boskalis spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the Dockwise Mighty Servant 1 has left DSME yard on June 8th carrying one of the modules for Mariner project in the UK North Sea.”

Mariner

To remind, the first module for the Mariner topside from South Korea left the DSME yard in South Korea on May 2 onboard the heavy transport vessel Forte.

At the time, Statoil said the topside modules weighing a total of more than 38,000 tonnes were being shipped on five heavy transport vessels to the North Sea, and that the four remaining vessels would follow in the coming weeks. The approximately 11,300 nautical mile journey to the Mariner field takes around 40 days.

The 38,000 tonne-heavy topside consists of eight modules and a flare. According to Statoil, the modules will be installed offshore by the heavy lift vessel Saipem 7000 during the summer.

Following the heavy lifting of the modules, the hook up and commissioning of the Mariner platform will start, lasting for more than a year. Start-up of the Mariner field is planned for the second half of 2018.

Also planned for the summer is an exploration drilling campaign in the UK on three licenses, including Mariner, using the Transocean Spitsbergen semi-submersible rig.

Mariner, discovered in 1981 some 150 km east of the Shetland Islands, is one of the largest projects currently under development in the UKCS.

The concept chosen for the development includes a production, drilling, and quarters platform based on a steel jacket, named Mariner A, with a floating storage unit, called Mariner B. Drilling will be carried out from the Mariner A platform, with a jack-up rig assisting for the first four years.

Recoverable reserves from the initial development are estimated at 250 million barrels of oil excluding near field exploration potential. The license is operated by Statoil with 65.1 percent interest with partners JX Nippon, Siccar Point Energy, and Dyas owning 20, 8.9, and 6 percent interest, respectively.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

The article has been amended to include statements by Boskalis and Statoil.