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Petrofac News 1700X397
06 September 2007

Petrofac Marks 10th Anniversary as Duty Holder with Northern Producer Success

Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, has successfully redeployed all personnel from the Northern Producer floating production facility after the vessel was de-commissioned from the Galley field in the Central North Sea.

Almost 60 personnel who worked on the Northern Producer have been transferred to other projects within Petrofac, demonstrating the Group’s commitment to its employees.

The success story of the Northern Producer coincides with the 10th anniversary year of Petrofac becoming the first contractor duty holder of an offshore installation. The Northern Producer contract heralded the start of Petrofac’s pioneering duty holder status and the Galley field, over which it was deployed, produced and exported almost twice the amount of oil expected. The floating production facility produced nearly 60 million barrels of oil and maintained an average oil production uptime performance above 98%. The Northern Producer was situated approximately 190km (120 miles) northeast of Aberdeen before being relocated to the River Tyne in Newcastle on 31 July 2007. It is currently being refurbished for potential future contracts.

Gordon East, managing director, Petrofac Facilities Management, said: “The success of the Northern Producer from start to finish has played a significant role within Petrofac.

“As a Group, Petrofac’s success lies within the core values that we encourage our people to embrace. Through our people’s united passion, we have created the innovative and value-adding duty holder model. This unique business model has helped us to deliver an operational performance ahead of expectations and is highly regarded by other contracting companies in the North Sea.”

Malcolm MacLeod, Petrofac’s project and operations manager for the successful decommissioning phase of the Northern Producer, has been at the heart of the project from inception through to completion. He spent the first seven years as the Offshore Installation Manager.

MacLeod observed: “The end of the Northern Producer’s duration on the Galley field represented a very sentimental day for everyone involved with the project, both onshore and offshore.

“There are many key factors which have made the Northern Producer a success story. Ownership of the delivery of our services, effective teamwork, a strong and active safety culture, good morale &, overall, a genuine atmosphere where personnel wanted to be part of the team and enjoyed the working environment.”

Petrofac’s innovative duty holder model revolutionised the way the industry – both nationally and internationally - manages offshore and onshore facilities. Ten years on and the success of Petrofac’s duty holder model continues as the Group leads the way on a global scale. In April 2007, Petrofac assumed full operational responsibility for facilities and well management of Dubai’s offshore oil & gas assets on behalf of Dubai Petroleum Establishment, an entity wholly owned by the Government of Dubai. Earlier this year, the Group acquired well management specialists, SPD Group Limited, and now offers a complete infrastructure service.