Orkney engineers are reported to have made a breakthrough in “green” oilfield technology which has revolutionised international clean-sea standards.
The Opus team, working from Flotta, says it has solved the problem of purifying produced water to advanced levels.
During the oil production process, water is brought to the surface with the oil.
Opus’s purpose-built separation plant is said to have achieved output levels of less than eight parts of oil per million.
It has a compact flotation unit (CFU) installed on the floating production vessel Maersk Peregrino in the Peregrino field off Brazil.
The CFU is the fourth such unit deployed internationally by Opus, whose research-and-development (R&D) centre is on Flotta, with design, project-management and process optimisation run from its base at Guildford, in Surrey.
Opus director of strategic operations, Glen McLellan, said: “At Maersk Peregrino, we were told by the client that our installation and services were the smoothest part of the production vessel’s topsides development.
“Between that and the superb performance of our equipment, we are making sure we live up to our aim to not only deliver results, but to continuously develop our technologies and services to stay ahead of the field.”
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland’s oil and gas sector leads the world, and the skills and knowledge developed in Scotland since the development of the North Sea are a key strength to Scotland’s economy and play a vital role in our future, both in the oil and gas sector and the developing renewable energy sector. This technology developed by Opus is an example of the sort of innovative thinking Scotland excels in, and I wish them every success.”
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur said: “This is a tremendous achievement by Opus, and further evidence of the world-leading research and development carried out by the team at Flotta.
“Being able to develop and apply complex technological solutions in some of the harshest environments in the world is testimony to the skill of those involved at the facility in Flotta. It is good to see these achievements being recognised, all of which reflects well not just on the company but Orkney as a whole.”