Swinton Technology is playing an important role in the project to unlock 100 million barrels of additional oil reserves from the North Sea.
Our expert team has provided a complete metering package for the new bridge-linked platform (BLP) connected to the existing Montrose Alpha platform – one of the oldest in the North Sea.
The new BLP will provide additional process and plant support for the whole Montrose Area Redevelopment (MAR). Montrose Alpha was originally commissioned in 1976. Operator Repsol Sinopec Resources UK has reported that oil has now started to flow from the Shaw field, about 200km east of Aberdeen, which is part of the wider MAR programme.
Repsol Sinopec has said that MAR could extend the life of a number of fields in the area to beyond 2030. Work to deliver that aim involves modifying and expanding the existing Montrose Area infrastructure as well as the development of three fields called Godwin, Cayley and Shaw.
Swinton Technology is an industry-leading specialist in metering computer system upgrade projects, with more than 300 now successfully delivered across the world from its offices in UK, Dubai and Malaysia. Stephen Cunningham of Swinton Technology said: “The challenge of the MAR project for all involved is the integration of new and existing infrastructure as a means of unlocking significant reserves that still exist in the North Sea.
“We are delighted to have played our part in the first stage of this major development in the programme, using the extensive knowledge we have gained on projects across the globe to deliver the most appropriate flow computing technology and solutions to meet the specific customer requirements needed.”
He added: “We work in partnership with our clients to understand their needs and our industry independence means we are able to offer the most cost-efficient and appropriate technology and solutions to our clients, wherever they are in the world.
“Our work on the MAR programme continues as we will continue to develop and maintain the system that we have created and installed.”
On the Montrose BLP project our team created a system using 15 Emerson S600 flow computers connected to a redundant Metering Supervisory Computer (MSC).
The system is fully integrated with existing control room data systems and gas chromatographs; it is fully HART compliant and it combines fiscal oil metering, gas metering and allocation metering. As well as supplying this complete metering package, we also installed and commissioned the system, which was fully pre-tested during the dry dock stage.
Swinton Technology counts a large number of major operators amongst our growing global client base, including BP, Shell, Total, Saudi Aramco, Talisman Energy, Total, Statoil, Petronas, ConocoPhillips, Maersk Oil and Centrica.
According to reports, the first oil is expected to flow from the Cayley field by the end of the second quarter of this year, with gross production set to peak at up to 40,000 barrels a day.
The operator’s managing director Bill Dunnett has hailed the announcement about first oil from Shaw as a “major achievement”.