Arup is close to installing the Arup Concept Elevator (ACE) platform on Xcite Energy Resources’ Bentley Oil Field located in the UK section of the northern-North Sea.
Working with Xcite, Amec Group and Aibel, the company has successfully completed the conceptual design and assurance scopes of work and has moved into the preliminary front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) stage.
Xcite selected Arup’s ACE platform due to a proven analogue to the Bentley Field application in addition to its ease of installation and removal.
Arup Oil and Gas leader Rob Duffin said: “The Bentley Field is a major asset for the UK but the harsh weather conditions can make the installation of production facilities difficult and expensive.
“The self-installing ACE platform is a proven and safe, environmentally-sensitive, efficient, and cost-effective solution.”
The company’s platform can quickly and efficiently install without the requirement for a specialist heavy-lift vessel, reducing overall schedule uncertainty and project risk.
In addition, the platform can be easily decommissioned at the end of its field life, which makes it an environmentally-sensitive and cost-effective solution.
Arup is also working with Teekay Shipping Norway and other key stakeholders to create an innovative infrastructure-based development concept for the Bentley Field, which is expected to deliver more than 35 years of predictable production.
The concept would be based on proven technologies for the drilling, production, storage and offloading of oil, which reduces the overall project risk profile.
To date, Arup has developed four ACE platforms, of which three have been operating worldwide since 2001, while the fourth is currently being fabricated locally for Shell Philippines Exploration B V, for installation offshore Palawan on the Malampaya Field as a depletion compression platform.
