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AMEC wins major Duty Holder contract in North Sea

Edited by the Processingtalk editorial team Jan 10, 2008

AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, is to be the Duty Holder on the Dunlin cluster of oilfield production facilities in the North Sea for Fairfield Energy

This new contract will run for the life of the field, which is estimated to be between 10 and 15 years.

The Dunlin cluster covers the Dunlin and Dunlin Southwest fields together with the Merlin and Osprey fields, in which Fairfield recently agreed to acquire the majority stake from Shell and Esso: it is located nearly 200 kilometres north-east of the Shetland Isles.

The Mitsubishi Corporation will hold a 30 per cent interest in the cluster.

The facilities in the cluster include the Dunlin A platform and subsea infrastructure for the Dunlin Southwest, Merlin and Osprey fields.

As Duty Holder AMEC will manage offshore production operations, which includes safety, health and environmental regulatory compliance, allowing Fairfield to concentrate on its core responsibilities as licence operator, which includes field development, drilling and wells maintenance.

AMEC will take over the role in the next few weeks during which time employees from Shell, the previous operator, will have completed their transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations.

"Taking over the role of Duty Holder from Shell on the Dunlin cluster is a big responsibility and an exciting opportunity for us, as we continue our strategy of providing high-value asset support, project management and engineering services to the energy sector" said Neil Bruce, Chief Operating Officer for the AMEC Natural Resources business: "We look forward to a long relationship with Fairfield.

Our combined capability will ensure the safe and effective management of these important assets".

Neil Fowler, General Manager - Production, for Fairfield Energy, said: "As a new operator in the North Sea we are pleased to be working innovatively and in partnership with AMEC to extend the life of the Dunlin field and achieve cost-effective recovery of hydrocarbons while ensuring the on-going employment of personnel".