The topside of the new Forties Alpha satellite platform in the North Sea has now been lifted into place.
The hook-up is due to start tomorrow, with first oil from the installation anticipated in autumn.
It is said to be the first central North Sea platform to be built at a single construction yard in the UK for at least 25 years and was completed by OGN on Tyneside.
The £400million construction project is for US oil company Apache.
The satellite platform has the capacity to produce up to 25,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
Decommissioning of the Forties field had originally been due to commence this year, but its life has been extended by Apache for a further 20 years.
The contract for the design and build of the platform was awarded to OGN in 2010 and the project, from concept to completion, required more than 3million man hours, providing work for 2,000 people at OGN’s Hadrian Yard at Wallsend and a further estimated 5,000 people throughout the UK supply chain.
Despite this British manufacturing success story, the UK oil and gas fabrication sector is said to be increasingly losing business to South Korea and the Middle East. OGN estimated that, over three years, major contracts for UK continental shelf oil and gas activity to the value of more than £10billion have been awarded outside Britain, equating to 10,000-plus jobs.
Any perception that the UK no longer has the capacity and skills to take on projects of this size and scale has been disproved by OGN which was established only four years ago when it acquired Hadrian Yard and invested £25million in the region.
OGN Group chairman Dennis Clark said about the Apache work: “This is a great testimony to the manufacturing capabilities and skills of the oil and gas supply chain in the north-east of England and to Apache’s commitment to building locally within the UK. ”
Apache North Sea managing director Jim House said: “We are looking forward to taking delivery of one of the largest oil platforms ever built on the Tyne.
“We have worked successfully in partnership with OGN over … three years and our confidence in them and with the UK supply chain has established an excellent example.
“The installation of the Forties Alpha satellite platform represents a major milestone for Apache’s significant investment programme.
“I’m especially proud that Apache is installing this new platform at the same time production from Forties was originally scheduled to scale down. Production in the Forties field is running at an average of 57,000bpd of oil; five times higher than the outlook of 10 years ago.”
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