Page 12 - Euroil Week 02 2020

EurOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
EurOil
Equinor cleared to use West
Hercules rig for North Sea
well
Norway’s Equinor has received consent from the offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), for exploration drilling in the North Sea using the West Hercules drilling rig.
The PSA said on January 15 that the consent was awarded for drilling of pilot hole 30/2-U-1 in production licence 878.
Equinor is the operator of the licence with a 70% interest. Partners in the license are Wellesley and Source Energy with 20 and 10% stakes, respectively.
The pilot hole is located north-west of the Huldra field in the North Sea in a water depth of 142 metres.
According to Equinor’s estimates, the drilling will last for three days and will start in early 2020.
The pilot hole will be drilled using the West Hercules drilling rig, which is owned and operated by Seadrill.
The West Hercules is a 6th-generation semi-submersible drilling rig built in 2008 at Daewoo Shipyard, South Korea. The facility received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in 2012.
January 15 2020
Aker seeks brownfield service contract
Aker Solutions is involved in a joint venture that has been issued a letter of award to provide offshore maintenance and modification services to an undisclosed client.
Aker Solutions said on January 15 that the brownfield services contract was for a five- year term. The scope of work covers offshore assets which require maintenance and upgrades to maintain production levels.
The revenue under the awarded contract over the full term is equivalent to approximately $400mn.
The company expects the negotiations to be completed and a binding contract to be signed by the end of the first quarter of 2020.
Aker Solutions will book its full corresponding revenue under the contract as order intake in the quarter of the contract’s signing.
January 15 2020
Aker wins FEED for Troll electrification
On behalf of the Troll partners, Equinor has awarded Aker Solutions a front-end engineering and design contract (FEED) for topside modifications to accommodate power from shore at the Troll B and C platforms.
“This is an important award that supports the industry’s ambition to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in Norway with 40 percent by 2030 and
to near zero by 2050. Using electrical power from shore will require large and complex modification work at the Troll B and C platforms. We are glad to award the FEED contract to mature the topside modification work to Aker Solutions, a supplier who has worked with the Troll field for many years and has a good knowledge of the installations,” says Peggy Krantz-Underland, Equinor chief procurement officer.
Upon final investment decision Equinor has the possibility to exercise an option for engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI), that is included in the FEED contract.
“The main driver in the electrification project is to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions from the Troll B and Troll C platforms by using electrical power from Kollsnes and replacing the existing gas turbine driven electricity generators
and gas compressors with electrical equipment,” says Geir Tungesvik, senior vice president for project development in Equinor.
“The selected concept for the electrification is full electrification of Troll C and partial electrification of Troll B with a possibility to fully electrify Troll B later,” says Tungesvik.
The CO2 reductions is expected to be 450.000 tonnes/year after the project is completed.
The electrical system and power
cable from shore will be designed to accommodate full electrification for Troll B and Troll C. The Troll partners together with Aker Solutions will use the next
year to plan the work in detail to ensure
it can be executed safely without harm to personnel, environment or installations.
Troll A was the first platform on the Norwegian continental shelf to utilize power from shore, already from initial startup
back in 1996. Now Troll B and Troll C are important building blocks towards zero emission of the Troll gas strategy in 2040.
A separate FEED contract for the
onshore civil work has already been awarded to Multiconsult. Equinor and the partnership are now maturing the project further and plan to make the investment decision by end 2020.
Equinor, January 15 2020
Premier acquisition cleared by court
UK-based Premier Oil has secured court approval for its plan to have a creditors’ vote to extend its debt maturities and acquire North Sea fields from BP and Dana Petroleum.
Premier announced on January 7 it would buy the Andrew Area and Shearwater assets from BP for $625mn, along with a 25% stake in the Premier-operated Tolmount Area from Dana for $191mn, plus up to $55mn in contingent payments.
On the same day, Premier also announced the proposed extension of its existing credit facilities to November 30, 2023.
Premier said that the acquisitions would be funded via a $500mn equity raise, which has been fully underwritten on a standby basis, existing cash resources and, if required, an acquisition bridge facility of $300mn
The oil company also stated that lender consent for the proposed acquisitions, related funding arrangements, and extension of credit facilities would be sought via two court- approved schemes of arrangement.
Premier had faced opposition to its plan from its main creditor Asia Research & Capital Management (ARCM), which said it would take all steps to block the company’s proposal.
Despite the creditor’s request for an adjournment of the creditor vote, a Scottish court has allowed Premier to proceed.
January 16 2020
Activists block Shell HQ in Aberdeen
Extinction Rebellion activists blocked the entrance to Shell’s headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland on January 16.
“We want Shell and the rest of the fossil
fuel industry to tell the truth about their role
in the climate crisis, to halt their billion dollar misinformation and lobbying campaign to undermine belief in climate change; to stop any action which could harm their profits; to erode any policies not in their favor,” XR said in a statement on the day.
January 16 2020
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Week 02 16•January•2020