The Rt. Hon Helen Liddell MP, Minister for Energy and Competitiveness in Europe,
today officially inaugurated the £540 million Triton Project at the offices
of Amerada Hess in Aberdeen. The Project, which incorporates the Bittern, Guillemot
West and North West fields, took just 2½ years from sanction by the partner
companies to the delivery of first oil to the Triton floating production storage
and offloading vessel on 15 April 2000.
In inaugurating the Triton Project, Helen Liddell said,
"Triton represents a further sign of continuing life on the UK Continental
Shelf (UKCS), and I am pleased to congratulate all involved on successful production
through this vessel.
"It has been a good week for the UKCS, with another major project coming
onstream, and positive investment signals from some major players.
"As the North Sea matures, it continues to offer up technological challenges
which could result in real rewards for industry. With the kind of partnership
and innovation displayed in the Triton project, and the initiatives developing
through PILOT, our nation's offshore oil and gas resources promise a great future."
Commenting on the achievement, Nick Fairbrother, Managing Director of Amerada
Hess Limited said,
"In a maturing North Sea, Triton has set a new benchmark. The project demanded
a new level of teamwork between investors, suppliers and fabricators in order
to unlock the value of the three fields and mould them into a single development.
I believe this has produced a superb result, a high quality development that
builds on the considerable expertise and experience of all the partners. Even
with the exacting timetable we set ourselves and the challenges encountered
along the way, Triton has been developed rapidly and within the budget we originally
set. It provides a model for releasing the potential of similar clusters of
small and marginal accumulations on the UK Continental Shelf.
"Amerada Hess intends to build on this latest achievement. Our plans to
increase capital investment and exploration spend in the UK as opportunities
become available is a demonstration of our continued commitment to this country
and belief that the UK Continental Shelf still has a great deal to offer."
The Inauguration marks the end of a very successful project phase and the build
up of production after the completion of the majority of offshore commissioning
on the Triton vessel. Production levels and operating efficiency are steadily
rising and on target for plateau production as the process plant is tuned and
experience of its operation is gained. Triton production is currently averaging
in the order 66,000 barrels of oil per day and gas export of 80 million ft³
per day.
The partners in the Triton Project are Amerada Hess (Operator of the Triton
FPSO), Shell (Operator of the Bittern Field), Veba (Operator of the Guillemot
West and North West Fields), ExxonMobil, Enterprise and Paladin. The fields
served by the FPSO Triton have estimated reserves of some 140 million barrels
of oil and 210 billion cubic feet of gas and an expected field life of 13 years.
Triton Project key dates
| July 1996 |
Bittern discovery followed by appraisal and concept selection
process |
| October 1997 |
Project sanction by Triton Partners |
| March 1998 |
DTI Field Development Approval |
| April 2000 |
First oil |
| June 2000 |
First gas export |
