BP’s Clair Ridge drilling platform modules today began their historic journey to the west of Shetland.
The final modules for the £4.5billion investment left the HHI yard in Ulsan, South Korea, marking the end of the project’s fabrication stage there.
They will travel to the North Sea via Singapore and the Cape of Good Hope.
The modules are expected to arrive in the Clair field, located 75km to the west of the Shetland Islands, in May where they will be installed using the Heerma heavy lift crane vessel.
BP moved its Clair Ridge team to South Korea in 2012 to manage the delivery eight modules and a bridge linking the two new platforms.
The delivery follows an earlier sailaway of modules on three other Dockwise vessels for the development.
The team based in South Korea will now demobilise. Some of the experts will follow the delivery to the UK, where they will join the hook-up and commissioning team, which will support 750 roles.
Installation of the production and drilling platform is expected to begin in May.
First oil is targeted for the end of 2017.
The Clair field, which was discovered in 1977, cover an area of 220km2, in water depths of approximately 140m.
The first development phase (Clair Phase 1) was sanctioned in 2001. It was developed with a single fixed platform with production and process topsides facilities, supported by a steel jacket and associated oil and gas export facilities, according to BP.
Clair Ridge is the second phase of the development on the field.
It’s expected to produce an estimated 640 million barrels of oil over a 40 year period, with peak production expected to be up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
About 80% of the estimated £1.1billion in drilling costs will be spent in the UK.
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