The largest new gas field to be discovered in the southern North Sea for 25 years is expected to lead to an economic boost across the east of England and a“massive benefit for UK industry”.
Gas will start flowing into Bacton later this year from the Cygnus field, one of the biggest projects in the southern North Sea for years.
Cygnus is expected to meet the needs of 1.5million homes and will be UK’s second largest production site of natural gas.
Logistics boats taking equipment and goods to the £1.4billion project off Lincolnshire, where drilling is likely to go on for at least seven years, will go in and out of Great Yarmouth and helicopters will fly from Norwich.
Operator GDF Suez Exploration and Production is currently driving its operational “readiness plan” as the final parts of the infrastructure are put in place.
Supply chain companies looking for business pitched to GDF Suez operations contracts and procurement manager Andrew Collins at the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) flagship SNS2015 conference.
Keith Murphy, Aberdeen-based operations and engineering manager at GDF Suez, told more than 500 delegates: “We see great potential for this area and have used very high grade systems for longevity.”
“We are open to ingenuity and enterprise and try to understand and seek out the best opportunities and best practices.”
GDF Suez was congratulated from the stage by Bill Cattanach of the Department of Energy and Climate Change for bringing “massive benefit for UK industry” and for “doing what it said it would do”.
Mr Cattanach added: “Everything was manufactured in the UK creating jobs in the UK. This is a company with commitment to the UK supply chain.”
GDF is a relatively new entrant to the UK market, drilling its first appraisal well in 2007, but already in the top 10 operators in terms of acreage.
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