Total starts up Laggan-Tormore, West of Shetland

The French major Total has started up production from the Laggan and Tormore gas and condensate fields in the West of Shetland area after a substantial delay in the contractor Petrofac's construction work.

The fields will produce 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). Others will join it, with Total’s Edradour due to start next year; and Glenlivet.

“Laggan-Tormore is a key component of our production growth in 2016 and beyond. The innovative subsea-to-shore development concept, the first of its kind in the UK offshore, has no offshore surface infrastructure and benefits from both improved safety performance and lower costs,” said Total’s president for exploration Arnaud Breuillac February 8.

The Laggan-Tormore development consists of a 140-km tie-back of four subsea wells to the new onshore Shetland Gas Plant which has a capacity of 500mn ft³/d. Following treatment at the gas plant, the gas is exported to the mainland via the 665mn ft³/d Shetland Island Regional Gas Export System (Sirge), which Total operates with 67%.

Sirge feeds into Total’s wholly-owned Frigg UK line, which lands at St Fergus. Capacity is earmarked for Rosebank and Clair Ridge, with spare capacity appearing in the pipeline at the end of the decade. Condensates are exported via the Sullom Voe terminal. 

As recently as April 2015 construction company Petrofac was expecting the plant onstream in the third quarter of last year. However, it said in the spring that a contractor had let it down and it had underestimated some major construction work. Bad weather and industrial action added to Petrofac’s woes, costing it $525mn as of last April.

Total operates Laggan-Tormore with a 60% interest alongside partners Danish Dong and Scottish & Southern Energy who both own 20%.

William Powell