Delay on the horizon: TotalEnergies’ testing and commissioning being prolonged at giant North Sea project

Following an issue at a recently restarted redevelopment project, TotalEnergies EP Danmark, a subsidiary of France’s energy giant TotalEnergies, is anticipating a longer testing program and commissioning plan for the ramp-up to full technical capacity at its natural gas project in the Danish sector of the North Sea.

After the gas production from Tyra II, which is said to be Denmark’s largest natural gas field, was restarted in March 2024, the export of gas from the Tyra facilities to Denmark was ongoing during the ramp-up period, when TotalEnergies disclosed that an operational occurrence was temporarily impacting the commissioning of the facilities.

According to the latest update, continued efforts and investigations into remediation are ongoing regarding the operational occurrence at Tyra, which is related to the IP compressor affecting the commissioning of the new facilities during the output boosting and testing period. While the commissioning continues, TotalEnergies emphasizes that this operational occurrence will likely continue to impact the export volumes from the Tyra II facilities for May 2024.

The company explains that the duration of the testing program and commissioning plan for achieving the technical milestones and driving the ramp-up to 8,1 mcm/d technical capacity is expected to be prolonged by at least one month. However, the exact duration is to be determined pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Commissioning during the ramp-up period is expected to be subject to operational occurrences and variable gas export volumes. The testing program and commissioning plan for the Tyra II facilities are subject to the ongoing investigations,” highlighted TotalEnergies.

Once the gas flow from Harald, Svend, Roar, and Valdemar, and the wells from the Tyra field, including Southeast, West, and East, is re-established, the North Sea gas project is slated to deliver 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year, amounting to 80% of the forecasted Danish gas production.

The gas from the redeveloped Tyra hub will be delivered to Europe to strengthen its energy security. This project extends the Danish field’s life by 25 years and is anticipated to produce 5.7 million cubic meters of gas and 22,000 barrels of condensate per day at a plateau.

TotalEnergies operates the field on behalf of its partners in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), which is a partnership between TotalEnergies EP Danmark (operator, 43.2%), BlueNord (36.8%), and Nordsøfonden (20%).