Equinor gets go-ahead to use ‘Floatel Endurance’ on Martin Linge field

Norwegian oil major Equinor has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) for the use of the Floatel Endurance mobile accommodation unit on the Martin Linge field.

The PSA said earlier this week that the Floatel Endurance would be connected to the Martin Linge A platform by a walkway.

Owner and operator of the vessel, Floatel International, already has one such vessel working on the Martin Linge field.

Namely, Floatel Superior is currently working on the field and was awarded a contract extension until the end of March 2020 by Equinor in mid-April. Floatel also has six monthly options for the Floatel Superior.

As for the Floatel Endurance, it is a semi-submersible accommodation unit delivered by the Keppel FELS yard in Singapore in 2015. The unit received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in 2016.

The project the rig will be working on comprises a jacket-based integrated wellhead, production and accommodation platform, and a permanently anchored FSO vessel.

When the field comes on stream, the gas will be transported through a new pipeline connecting the field to the existing pipeline going to St. Fergus, Scotland. The oil will be processed on the storage vessel and transported from the field in shuttle tankers.

The Martin Linge platform, installed last summer, receives shore power via the world’s longest alternating-current sea cable measuring 162 kilometers from the onshore substation at Kollsnes north of Bergen to the platform.