Petrofac acquires floating production facility

Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, announces that its Energy Developments business has acquired the floating production facility (FPF), the AH001, from Hess Limited and Endeavour Energy UK Limited.

The AH001 has been deployed on the Hess operated Ivanhoe and Rob Roy Fields, in the UK North Sea, since 1989 with the Renee and Rubie Fields produced over it since 1999. The vessel, weighing approximately 17,000 tonnes, has a processing capacity of 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 42.5 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas with water injection capability of 72,000 bpd and treatment of 75,000 bpd. The vessel is expected to arrive shortly at the McNulty offshore facility in Newcastle upon Tyne. Options for its upgrade, modification and redeployment on fields where Energy Developments has or can take an interest will be considered over the coming months.

Petrofac has already gained significant experience from the deployment of the Northern Producer floating production facility on the Don Area development in the UK North Sea, and with the mobile production unit (MOPU) and floating storage system (FSO) on the Cendor field in Malaysia.

Amjad Bseisu, chief executive, Petrofac Energy Developments commented: “We are delighted to have acquired this production facility and to have completed our first energy infrastructure investment. This transaction and our ability to manage the required upgrade to the vessel and any modifications to position it for redeployment means we are uniquely positioned to deliver innovative and compelling development solutions for undeveloped opportunities and generate additional value alongside potential co-venture partners.”

“The AH001 was a pioneer in the North Sea, one of the first successful deployments of floating production systems that demonstrated that the technology was suitable for the harsh climate of the region. Having achieved success well beyond our original expectations, we are pleased to have been able to conclude AH001 operations safely and efficiently and complete the sale to Petrofac,” said Martin Edwards, Hess vice president for production in Europe.