IOG Awards Contract for North Sea Gas Project
UK junior Independent Oil & Gas (IOG) has awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract to London-based Subsea 7 for its southern North Sea gas project, it reported on May 7.
The contract covers subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines (Surf) work for the project's first phase, which was sanctioned in October and is targeting the Southwark, Blythe and Elgood gas fields. Production is scheduled to start in July 2021.
The Surf award comes after recent approval of IOG's development plans by UK authorities. It is almost entirely lump-sum in nature and was offered in a competitive tender, IOG said.
The phase involves drilling five wells that will deliver gas to shore via the old Thames pipeline. Subsea 7's contract covers a 6-km 24-inch extension connecting Thames to the Southwark platform, a 25-km 12-inch line linking it with the Blythe platform and a 9-km 6-inch pipeline and an umbilical connecting Blythe to the Elgood field, as well as associated subsea structures and tie-ins.
IOG's partner at the project is CalEnergy Resources, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which farmed in for a 50% stake last year. The scheme's second phase will develop the Goddard, Nailsworth and Elland fields, also in the southern North Sea, although a final investment decision is not yet in place. Combined, the two phases aim to recover 11.6bn m3 of gas.