JDR to supply umbilicals for Marathon’s North Sea field

JDR, a provider of technology connecting the global offshore energy industry, has been awarded a contract by Marathon Oil, an oil and gas company, to provide umbilicals for the West Brae field, in the UK North Sea. 

Namely, JDR will be in charge of the design and manufacture of 11.3 kilometers of power and static subsea umbilicals with accompanying termination hardware for the West Brae field.

The full scope of the award will be manufactured and deployed from JDR’s Hartlepool, UK facility where JDR is currently installing a helical lay-up machine (HLM) to accompany their existing vertical lay-up machine (VLM). Delivery is scheduled for July 2016.

David Currie, CEO of JDR, comments: “This is a very exciting win for JDR and we are proud to partner with Marathon Oil on this prestigious contract. It’s contracts like these that cement our decision to prepare for future projects with the addition of our new HLM. Our expansion will allow for further capacity for simultaneous umbilical and cable manufacture as well as expanding our steel-tube and thermoplastic umbilical capabilities.”

The field is located in the UK Central North Sea, approximately 140 miles north east of Aberdeen.

The Brae Area comprises three offshore platforms – Brae Alpha, Brae Bravo and East Brae and the Brae-Forties pipeline. Marathon Oil is the operator of the platforms and pipeline. The Brae Alpha platform and facilities act as host for the underlying South Brae field, as well as the adjacent Central Brae and West Brae fields.

The field recently came under the spotlight after Marathon was forced to shut down production from the Brae Alpha platform due to a gas leak.