Maersk’s Gryphon FPSO back on track
The Gryphon FPSO is back in production following a major overhaul of the vessel. Once all the associated fields are fully operational over the coming months, production will ramp up in excess of 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boepd). Production from Gryphon is expected to continue for the next decade, said in the company's press release.
The Gryphon FPSO, located 175 miles north east of Aberdeen, sustained damage in a storm on 4 February 2011 when four anchor chains broke and the vessel moved off station. This caused considerable damage to the subsea architecture requiring the Gryphon FPSO to be towed and dry docked in Damen shipyard in Rotterdam for repairs and upgrades. While work commenced on removing and replacing the damaged subsea equipment, Maersk Oil was designing, procuring, installing and rebuilding simultaneously. During this period of upgrade, Maersk Oil took the opportunity to acquire an extensive 4D seismic programme over the wider Gryphon Area, gained operatorship of the Maclure field and in parallel, conducted a successful drilling campaign on the Tullich field, further consolidating Maersk Oil’s position in this core area.
“The storm and resultant damage was a distressing and unwelcome event but along with critical repairs we have succeeded in using this incident to bring forward an upgrade of the installation and extend the productive life of Gryphon for another decade. The sheer size of this major re-instatement project should not be underestimated; with significant overhauls and upgrades to tanks, positioning and mooring systems, process control, power management and the subsea infrastructure. Managing a major and challenging re-development like this in less than two and a half years with a first-rate safety record was a significant achievement by the project team,” said Martin Rune Pedersen, Managing Director, Maersk Oil UK.
Optimising existing assets is an important element of Maersk Oil’s target of reaching an entitlement production of 400,000 bpd in 2020. Gryphon is a good example of that.
“Contributing to Maersk Oil’s overall target our ambition in the UK is to double production to 80,000 – 100,000 boepd within seven years. Bringing the Gryphon field back into production is key to the initial phase of this plan. During the last two years, we have revaluated the fields’ potential using new seismic data. We are looking forward to a high level of drilling activity over the next couple of years, allowing us to maximise value from the reservoirs,” Pedersen said.
The Gryphon area comprises the Gryphon, North and South Gryphon, Tullich and Maclure fields. These fields are all tied back to the Gryphon Alpha FPSO.
Partners in the Gryphon field are Maersk Oil (operator) 86.5% and Sojitz 13.5%. Operatorship of the Maclure field transferred from BP to Maersk Oil on 16 April 2013.