IOG Wins UK Approval for Upstream Project
UK upstream regulator Oil & Gas Authority has approved Independent Oil & Gas (IOG)'s field development plan for the first phase of its southern basin gas project, the producer said May 1. Construction activities are ramping up to deliver the Southwark and Blythe platforms on schedule in the first half of next year.
The offshore pipelaying campaign remains on schedule for the second half of this year, with applications submitted to regulatory bodies and the line pipe already transported to the UK. Most of the infrastructure needed to carry the gas to the coastal Bacton terminal is already in place: the Thames pipeline was built for other fields. Now IOG is carrying out detailed engineering and planning at the terminal, despite access restrictions caused by Covid-19.
Full contract awards are expected shortly for the key workstreams which have been underway since it took the final investment decision with partner CalEnergy, including platform fabrication, pipelaying and subsea work, and well management. It added that so far, there has been no impact to the schedule, despite the "ongoing industry and macroeconomic turbulence," referring to low energy demand and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Safety of staff and contractors remains the primary concern, it said, and it is "working with suppliers to ensure social distancing is in effect at all relevant sites, to maintain safe project delivery." The company has further strengthened its focus on cost savings across all activities.
Technical work continues on the 40bn ft³ Harvey and 100bn ft³ Redwell structures to support plans for high-return potential incremental developments, it said, without commenting on the status of talks with potential farm-in partner CalEnergy. And seismic reprocessing work is underway to improve subsurface imaging of Vulcan Satellites, Goddard and Abbeydale.
For the future, it is hopeful of positive results from the 32nd offshore round, following licence application interviews with OGA. It says there are "several other nearby growth opportunities" under evaluation.
CEO Andrew Hockey said: "We are very pleased to have received this milestone approval for our core UK gas project. Such government endorsement brings a welcome boost to the UK offshore industry and supply chain given the current environment. This innovative low-carbon project, re-using previously decommissioned infrastructure to develop otherwise stranded domestic gas resources, is a definitive example of maximising economic recovery (MER), in line with UK government strategy."