Subsea construction work is set to begin at Harbour Energy’s Talbot development later this month, followed by NEO Energy’s nearby Affleck field.
In a notice published via the Kingfisher service for mariners, Harbour (LON:HBR) set out plans for subsea construction and pipelay works between March and August this year.
Approved by regulators around a year ago, Talbot is a three-well subsea development tied back to Harbour’s Judy platform, around 10 miles to the northwest. Production will be routed back to the platform via a new subsea production flowline and umbilical carrying power, communications, hydraulic supply, methanol and chemicals.
Resources have been estimated at 18.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of light oil with associated gas.
First oil at the field is set for September 2024, the notice suggests.
Into this new infrastructure will tie NEO Energy’s Affleck subsea development to the southeast, also approved last year. NEO intends to reconnect to existing Affleck wells A1 and A2 via a pre-existing manifold, with new pipelines and umbilicals that will link it to both Talbot and Judy.
The same Kingfisher notice records that NEO is looking to begin subsea construction and pipelay works around 18 April.
© Supplied by NEOTalbot
Subsea activities on Talbot will commence circa 24th March 2024 with diving preparatory works within the a 500m safety zone around the Judy platform.
This will be followed by the installation of a new 15km pipe-in-pipe pipeline and electro hydraulic chemical (EHC) control umbilical between Talbot and Judy, supported by survey support vessel Olympic Triton.
A trenching support vessel will plough and backfill the pipeline and umbilical, after which a rock dump vessel will perform fill in along the pipeline and umbilical route and at pipeline crossing locations.
A subsea manifold structure will be installed at Talbot by the North Sea Atlantic construction support vessel (CSV), which will also install another manifold within Judy’s safety zone.
Finally a DSV will tie in the new pipeline and umbilical at the Talbot manifold location and support the commissioning of the pipeline and umbilical in preparation for first oil in September 2024.
Affleck
Subsea activities on Affleck will commence around 18 April, with a new 21km 8”/12” pipeline to be laid between the existing Affleck manifold and that the manifold at Talbot, as well as a new 36km EHC umbilical laid to link the development to Judy.
One SSV and two trenching vessels will tackle the pipelay and umbilical – one to plough and backfill the pipeline and one to jet trench the EHC umbilical. The support vessel will also carry out pre-commissioning activities for the newly installed pipeline.
A DSV will help tie-in the newly installed pipeline and umbilical at the Affleck manifold, the Talbot manifold location and within the Judy platform 500m zone. This will also support the commissioning of the pipeline and umbilical in preparation for Affleck first oil.
On completion of pipelay and trenching, a rock dump vessel will perform spot rock dumps along the pipeline and umbilical route and at crossing locations with existing pipelines, though these activities are currently split into two separate scopes, the bulletin says.
Operations are expected to last from mid-April until the end of September, with previous filings putting first oil some time before the end of 2024.
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