UK: ConocoPhillips Aims to Extend Britannia Field Life with New LTC Module

Wilton Engineering Services Limited (WESL), has been awarded a significant UK North Sea contract with international integrated energy company, ConocoPhillips.

The award to fabricate the Long Term Compression (LTC) module for the Britannia field will create up to 100 new jobs with a further 150 sub-contract jobs taking the total to 250 jobs for Teesside.

Britannia is a gas condensate field situated around 130 miles (210 kilometres), north-east of Aberdeen. The original main platform was built at the Wilton Group’s Port Clarence facility in 1995.

The team at Wilton Engineering, a Wilton Group company, will deliver the 2,200-tonne LTC module in March 2013, which will extend the life of the Britannia gas field and enhance production from existing wells. The LTC module will be 30 metres long, 29 metres high and 18 metres wide and it will accommodate one of the largest compressors in the North Sea.

Bill Scott, chief executive officer of Wilton Group, says: “To have this project carried out in Teesside will be a great boost not only to our workforce but also the wider local economy. The award further enhances our reputation to build large-scale engineering projects and endorses the skills of our talented workforce.”

Energy Minister Charles Hendry says: “This is great news for Wilton Engineering and great news for the UK economy with 250 quality jobs being supported over a prolonged period in the North of England,”

“I am particularly pleased to see companies like ConocoPhillips acknowledging the excellent engineering and construction capability which exists on their doorstep and in doing so helping to grow the UK industrial sector.”

Britannia is one of the largest natural gas and condensate fields in the North Sea. Commercial production began in August 1998. Condensate is delivered through the Forties pipeline to the oil stabilisation and processing plant Kerse of Kinneil near the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, and gas is transported through Britannia’s line to St Fergus, Scotland. Net production in 2010 was 6 MBD of liquids and 156 MMCFD of natural gas.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, January 18, 2012; Image: pdmsenergy