Altera Infrastructure, contracted by Equinor for redeployment of the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO to Rosebank oil and gas field west of Shetland, has let a contract to Aker Solutions for a complete upgrade of the vessel.
The vessel is expected to undergo life extension work as well as modifications to enhance energy efficiency for electrification. It was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, was delivered in 2014, and operated on Knarr field from 2015 until May 2022. Rosebank project development plans are pending final investment decision—expected this year—and regulatory approvals.
The work will be performed via joint venture with Drydocks World-Dubai, and the upgrade will take place in Dubai, UAE. The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract is a combination of work with new build, demolition, and life extension (hull, marine systems, and topsides) required for the FPSO to be kept on the field for 25 years without drydocking.
Equinor acquired operatorship of Rosebank, which lies about 130 km off the coast of UK’s Shetland Islands in 1,110 m of water, in 2019. Development is planned in two phases.
Phase 1 comprises drilling four production and three water injection wells, subject to learnings from initial wells. Phase 2 will involve drilling up to a further three production and two water injection wells. The wells will be connected by new flowlines to the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO for hydrocarbon processing. Gas will be exported via a new gas export pipeline to the existing West of Shetland Pipeline Systems (WOSPS). Oil will be offloaded using tankers.
EPC work expected to begin in first-half 2023 and is scheduled to be completed at end-2025. The Petrojarl Knarr FPSO was transported to Aker Solutions yard at Stord in August 2022 and will be stored there until the planned tow to Dubai during second-half 2023.
Detail design will be done in Norway by Aker Solutions in collaboration with Citec Norway AS, ABB Norway AS, and OneSubsea Processing AS.
Rosebank is in UKCS Blocks 213/26b and 213/27a (license P1026), Block 205/1a (license P1191) and Block 205/2a (license P1272). It has an estimated 300 million bbl of potentially recoverable reserves.
Equinor UK Ltd. is operator of Rosebank (40%) with partners Suncor Energy UK Ltd. (40%) and Ithaca SP E&P Ltd. (20%).
