Petrofac Commits to Southern North Sea

Petrofac is committed to a long-term future in the Southern North Sea and has opened new premises in Great Yarmouth to service the increasing demand for its oil & gas facilities management services.

The international provider of facilities solutions to the oil & gas production and processing industry, has opened its 9,000 sq ft offices and warehouse facilities on the Gapton Hall Industrial Estate in Great Yarmouth. The new premises can accommodate 40 staff and provide intervention support capabilities for unmanned and manned operations in the Southern North Sea.

Petrofac is a key employer in the east of England and is keen to further develop opportunities for local employees, as the company continues to invest and recruit in the region.

In October 2003, Petrofac officially took over responsibility for the management of Tullow Oil UK Ltd’s Hewett facility in the Southern North Sea and its Bacton Gas Terminal in Norfolk. The landmark agreement marked the first time that a facilities management company had assumed management of an onshore gas terminal in the UK (Bacton). The company is also the service operator and duty holder for UK offshore assets including Schooner, Ketch, Horne and Wren.

With its operations management expertise and proven capability, Petrofac works closely with Tullow to enhance performance of the Bacton terminal by increasing operational uptime and optimising costs to ensure a long-term future in the Southern North Sea.

This successful relationship has been possible due to continued improvement in production efficiency, the optimisation of production costs and an enhanced safety performance that is better than the industry average. Health and safety is extremely important to Petrofac and is implemented across the company through Horizon Zero, its ongoing safety campaign.

During 2006, Petrofac also took over duty holder responsibilities for the gas-producing Camelot platform, following the transfer of ownership from Mobil North Sea Limited, an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation, to Energy Resources Technology (UK) Ltd (ERT).

This project highlights Petrofac’s expertise in managing the transition of producing assets and increasing capabilities of supporting normally unmanned installations (NUI) in a cost effective manner.

Paddy Mallan is integrated operations director at Petrofac and has spent more than 29 years in the oil and gas industry. He is excited about the prospects in the Southern North Sea: “We are continuously seeking opportunities to provide our capabilities to other operators and invest our management skills and financial resources in what we see as a long-term future for gas production and storage in the area.

“The strategic relationship we have with our customers in the Southern North Sea demonstrates our full facilities management capability and maintains our position as the first choice provider of operations management, maintenance, engineering and construction services to the oil & gas industry.”