TotalEnergies hands out work to Wood in North Sea

The UK’s engineering and consulting company Wood has won a new decarbonization contract with TotalEnergies E&P UK (TEPUK), a subsidiary of France’s energy giant TotalEnergies, for a flare gas recovery project in the UK sector of the North Sea.

This 23-month contract, which is part of the Elgin-Franklin flare gas recovery system project, will enable Wood’s Aberdeen team to handle the coordination of operations, procurement, and design aspects for the Elgin asset. This follows a field study and front-end engineering design (FEED) already completed by the UK firm.

The project forms part of TEPUK’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and aims to redirect gas that would have previously been flared through a new compressor system offshore, where it will be treated and then reused. As a result, 40 new positions should be created onshore and offshore.

Martin Simmonite, Senior Vice President for UK Operations at Wood, noted: “We are delighted to work with TEPUK, supporting the delivery of this decarbonisation initiative and providing end-to-end project lifecycle solutions. Wood is committed to delivering sustainable solutions that contribute to a low carbon future and our teams are well positioned to support TEPUK as they execute their ambitious action plan to reduce emissions across their operations.”

The Elgin-Franklin field is a series of high-pressure, high-temperature (HP/HT) gas reservoirs located in the Central North Sea and operated by TotalEnergies. Eni, Harbour Energy, Ithaca Energy, NEO Energy, and ONE-Dyas also hold non-operated interests in the field, which is said to be one of the largest HP/HT installations in the world.

The Elgin field is located in Block 22/30b and Block 22/30c of the UK sector of the North Sea, approximately 200 kilometers east of Aberdeen, in a water depth of 92 meters, while the Franklin and West Franklin satellites are situated 5.5 kilometers south of Elgin in Block 29/5b and Block 29/4d at a similar depth. Coming on stream in 2001, the field is expected to be operational until 2040.

Wood has been busy securing contracts with international players recently. Last month, its joint venture, Massy Wood, was selected to provide project management and engineering services for a liquefaction facility in Trinidad and Tobago, and in February, Japan’s Inpex Corporation chose the firm to work on several global decarbonization projects.

While TotalEnergies has also been working on decarbonization, the French giant has been pursuing a multi-energy strategy as well. In addition to making a final investment decision (FID) for a solar-powered liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Oman, set to be the first LNG bunkering hub in the Middle East, the French heavyweight has also taken steps to bolster its gas production off the coast of Malaysia.
Considering that the company managed to cushion the fall in profit caused by the drop in energy prices, the multi-energy strategy seems to be working, as indicated by the company’s quarterly results for 1Q 2024.