Maersk Oil has announced the start of topsides fabrication for the $4.5bn Culzean project in the UK North Sea.
Located about 145 miles east of Aberdeen, the Culzean field is expected to produce between 60,000boepd-90,000boepd at plateau production for a period of at least 13 years.
The company’s coventurers in the Culzean project are JX Nippon Exploration & Production (UK) (34.01%) and BP (Britoil) (16%).
Maersk Oil chief executive Jakob Thomasen said: "When the field begins to produce in 2019, Culzean will become a key contributor to Maersk Oil’s ambition to become a top five operator in the North Sea in the 2020s, and provide around 5% of UK gas demand at peak production.
"Maersk Oil and coventurers’ investment will also support employment in both the UK and Asian supply chains."
The Culzean project was sanctioned in August 2015.
In September 2015, Maersk Oil awarded a $1bn contract to Sembcorp Marine Offshore Platforms (SMOP) for the building of the central processing facility, in addition to two connecting bridges.
The contract also included wellhead platform and utilities & living quarters platform topsides for the Culzean field development.
Culzean project director Martin Urquhart said: "We will be harnessing technology to develop a 21st century facility with the ability to remotely monitor critical equipment 24 hours a day, and enable offshore colleagues to access real time data and immediate technical evaluation and onshore support."
The Culzean field was discovered by Maersk Oil and its co-venturers in 2008 and has estimated resources of 250 million to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Image: Maersk and its co-venturers are investing around $4.5bn in the Culzean field development. Photo: courtesy of AP Moller – Maersk Group.
