Supply chain alliance supports Buzzard Phase II achieve first oil

Subsea 7 has been working collaboratively with AGR Well Management, Baker Hughes, COSL Drilling Europe AS and Worley, as part of a supply chain alliance, to deliver CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited’s (CPEL) Buzzard Phase II (BPII) development, which commenced production on Monday 22 November.

The alliance was formed to offer an integrated and outcome-focused approach for the development. The alliance and CPEL have worked collaboratively to safely achieve first oil within the sanctioned budget and ahead of the revised schedule, which was significantly impacted by COVID-19.

This achievement is the result of a collective effort over a four-year period by the BPII project alliance companies, as well as a long list of key suppliers and sub-contractors.

The work was carried out across a range of onshore and offshore worksites including the Buzzard asset, Rosenberg Worley's fabrication yard in Stavanger, Subsea 7’s bundle fabrication site near Wick, various Subsea 7 construction vessels and COSL Drilling Europe’s 6th generation semi-submersible drilling rig, COSL Pioneer.

More than 2.6 million hours were expended by an integrated team working under an innovative alliance contracting model which provided greater flexibility to quickly adapt to changes, including the global pandemic, and allowed teams to combine strengths.

Steve Wisely, Senior Vice President, Subsea 7 UK & Global IRM, said: “Subsea 7 is proud to have played a key role in the BPII alliance and the successful delivery of this project. Congratulations and thank you to CPEL and our BPII alliance supply chain partners who we have worked closely with over the past four years. This again demonstrates how effective collaborative contracting models can be in delivering superior outcomes for every type of project.”

BPII is a subsea development in the Northern Area of the Buzzard field located approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen, with average water depth of approximately 96 meters It currently consists of two producer wells and two water injections wells and includes a subsea production and water injection manifold located at a new drill centre, tied back to the existing Buzzard facility.