UK: Premier’s Tolmount project sanction on track for 2018

Premier Oil, a London-listed oil and gas company, has informed that the sanction of the Tolmount offshore field development project remains on track for 2018.

Premier said in its trading and operations update on Thursday that the offshore and onshore front-end engineering design (FEED) on the Tolmount field in the Southern Gas Basin was progressing well. Alongside the FEED process, the environmental assessment for offshore aspects of the project was submitted in December, and the onshore assessment is planned to follow in due course.

The Tolomount field was discovered by E.ON in 2011. The field became a part of the Premier Oil portfolio after Premier bought E.On’s UK North Sea assets in early 2016 for $120 million. At the time of the acquisition, the company dubbed Tolmount as one of the largest discoveries in the Southern Gas Basin in recent years with estimated gross resources of 200Bcf-1Tcf.

In an update on Thursday, Premier said that the fully termed agreements with Dana Petroleum and CATS Management Limited in respect of the infrastructure partnership for the Tolmount development were being progressed ahead of the final investment decision. Approval of project sanction remains on track for 2018.

Premier selected a development concept in February 2017, comprising of a standalone normally unmanned installation (NUI) and a new gas export pipeline to shore.

Also, the company said that the process of evaluating the tenders received for the major offshore project scopes including the pipeline and platform was still underway.

To remind, FEED contract for the Tolmount development was awarded to Wood Group in April 2017. Under the scope of the deal, Wood Group would provide topsides, jacket, pipeline, flow assurance and subsea engineering expertise for the development’s offshore assets, export pipeline, and the onshore terminal.

In related news, the first export cargo from the Premier-operated Catcher oil field is expected to be lifted in late January and has been sold at a premium to Brent.

Offshore Energy Today Staff