UK Lomond Operator Goes for Bypass: Partner
The Lomond field in the UK North Sea is to go on extended maintenance May 1 while pipeline operator Chrysaor lays a 26-km pipeline to bypass the blocked export route, said Serica, a partner in the Erskine field. Attempts to clear the wax build-up have been unsuccessful, it said.
Serica said: "As a significant maintenance programme was already planned for this summer, the Lomond operator has taken this opportunity to extend this, performing further, pre-emptive maintenance on the platform whilst it is hydrocarbon free. From May 1, work will commence to reduce the backlog of maintenance work as well as perform inspections and replace and repair key equipment."
Cleaning operations led to a blockage on the Lomond to Everest pipeline, through which Erskine condensate is exported to market, shutting in Erskine, which was announced in late January. As there has been no breakthrough, clearance operations will stop and now the operator will concentrate on accelerating the pipeline bypass programme and on running an extended maintenance programme.
Approvals for the pipeline work are expected in July and construction is scheduled for August, with production restart expected in September. Once laid, a proactive cleaning programme will start in order to maintain the pipeline through high-frequency pigging, Serica said, meaning fewer and/or shorter shut-downs in future and higher sales.
Serica CEO Mitch Flegg said that while he was "disappointed that efforts by the Lomond field operator to clear wax from the Lomond condensate export line have not been successful we are pleased that plans to achieve a permanent solution for this recurring problem are progressing well.... We have the benefit of a strong balance sheet which enables us to fund our share of the pipeline bypass during this period without Erskine production revenues." Serica is also partner in the producing Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields, following a purchase from BP effective January 1. These fields have not been affected.