‘Important milestone’ for UK firm as it becomes operator of North Sea FPSO and cluster

Anasuria Operating Company (AOC), a UK-based jointly‐controlled company held equally by Ping Petroleum and Hibiscus Petroleum’s Anasuria Hibiscus UK, has become the installation and pipeline operator for a cluster and an FPSO located in the North Sea.

In a statement last week, Anasuria Operating Company revealed that it had become the installation and pipeline operator for the Anasuria cluster and FPSO in the North Sea, explaining that by making the step to installation and pipeline operator, the company reached “an important milestone” in its journey towards becoming “a best-in-class operating company.”

Richard Beattie, Anasuria Operating Company, Chief Executive Officer, remarked: “Our existing experience means this is a natural progression for our company. We have been steadily building the AOC team and have been integral in operations, managing capital projects and activities, with Petrofac as duty holder since 2016. 

Back in March 2016, Petrofac was appointed as a duty holder to support AOC after the Malaysian duo – Ping and Hibiscus – took over as owner and AOC as license operator of the Anasuria cluster. This deal covers the North Sea oil fields in the Anasuria cluster, which were acquired by Ping and Hibiscus from Shell in August 2015.

The contract enabled Petrofac to assume full responsibility on behalf of AOC for the FPSO operations as well as for monitoring and managing the pipelines and wells with the exception of the Cook well. At the time, the deal with Petrofac was inked for a five-year period, however, it also had additional options for further extension.

Located 175 kilometres east of Aberdeen, the Anasuria cluster consist of a 100 per cent interest in the Anasuria FPSO, Teal, Teal South, Guillemot A fields and a 38.65 per cent interest in the Cook field.

“We are committed to the development of our staff, whilst delivering the highest standard of health and safety, and environmental performance by fostering a culture of maximising value for our shareholders. We take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in helping us achieve this milestone and look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead,” added Beattie.

At the end of May 2022, Hibiscus provided an update on the operational performance in the cluster based on Anasuria Hibiscus UK’s participating interest, stating that the average uptime and average daily oil equivalent production rate achieved at the Anasuria Cluster for the quarter which ended on 31 March 2021 was 68 per cent and 1,983 boe per day, respectively. This is lower than the figures recorded in the preceding quarter.

The company’s operational performance continues to be affected by the unavailability of a critical component of the subsea infrastructure which malfunctioned in May 2021, unplanned downtime of equipment on the Anasuria FPSO as well as a well intervention programme in the Guillemot A field.

The firm explains that this critical component relates to a production riser that transports produced crude oil to the Anasuria FPSO, adding that this component has been isolated from the primary production system. Hibiscus also elaborated that the impact of the temporary isolation was a lower overall daily production rate from the Anasuria Cluster. This will continue until the failed component is replaced.

In addition, the Malaysian player says that the engineering, procurement and certain offshore activities are ongoing on a fast-track basis with execution expected to be concluded in the third quarter of 2022. In lieu of this, until the failed component is returned to service, the company anticipates that there will be an impact on offtake volumes and OPEX per boe in 2022.

Moreover, a planned Offshore Turnaround of the Anasuria FPSO (2022 Turnaround), expected to start in June 2022 and complete in July 2022, is expected to affect the operational performance of the Anasuria Cluster.

Furthermore, Hibiscus says that the 2022 Turnaround is “vital towards improving the reliability and integrity of the Anasuria FPSO in addition to ensuring a safe offshore working environment.”