Wireline Issue 45 - Summer 2019

The full MPP station being tested in water

under expected installed conditions at OneSubsea's Horsoy facility.

“It’s possible to do things differently by looking not just at a single element, but at the wider infrastructure and the overall economics.”

initially seen as a negative that Eider was to shut down, once people could see that what we’d actually done was extend the life of North Cormorant it became clear that this was an overall positive,” says Calum. It was decided, however, that Eider was still to play a key role in providing power, chemical and system support to other hub fields – a dimension that added to the strength of the economic case behind the strategy. Powering Eider down Even though production would be wound down, the overhaul of Eider to enable it to provide utility functions was a complex process. Most importantly, it necessitated a hazard reduction and hydrocarbon cleansing exercise on the platform, allied to a well decommissioning campaign spanning a total of 18 wells – the first such large-scale campaign TAQA had undertaken in the UK. Eider was then declared hydrocarbon-free in early 2019. In the meantime, the team formed a slimmed-down operating model for the platform. This featured a core crew of multi-skilled staff and streamlined support services that reflected its new, non-production status, while existing staff were redeployed to other TAQA assets. This was supported by a programme of engineering modifications to platform utility systems and a comprehensive update of policies, procedures and documentation in line with this new role. “The Eider late-life work essentially brought everything together,” says North Cormorant offshore installation manager (OIM) Craig Finlayson. “It has taken the form of a highly efficient model that has significantly reduced operating costs, and it made the capital investment in the bypass and MPP fully viable. “There were valid questions as to whether it was

North Cormorant offshore installation manager Craig Finlayson

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