BP’s Clair Ridge platform starts to take shape

British oil giant BP has reached a significant milestone with the second phase of its Clair Ridge field development, located west of the Shetland Islands, UK.

The company has today said it has installed the quarters and utilities topside modules at the new Clair Ridge platform. Dutch firm Heerema lowered the modules on top of the previously installed jackets, using the Thialf heavy lift vessel.

According to BP, the QU platform comprises three modules – the quarters and utilities integrated deck (QUID) which has a lift weight of 9,400te; the power generation module which has a lift weight of 4,550te; and the living quarters (LQ) module which has a lift weight of 2,210te.

Trevor Garlick, Regional President for BP’s North Sea business said: “The safe installation of these three topside modules is a fantastic achievement by the project team. In a challenging time for the industry, this project shows the potential of our basin and why it is so important that we work to ensure a competitive future business.”

Clair Ridge is a multi-billion investment in the second phase of development on the Clair field which lies 75 kilometers to the west of the Shetland Islands.

The Clair field was originally discovered in 1977. It started producing oil in February 2005 and, according to BP, has so far produced around 80 million barrels of oil.

The second phase of the development project comprises two new bridge-linked platforms and new pipeline infrastructure to connect storage and redelivery facilities on Shetland.

BP says that the next significant milestone will be the installation of the production and drilling platform topside modules, scheduled for summer 2016, with production expected to begin in late 2017.

BP is the operator of the project. Other partners are ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Shell.