Premier Oil has awarded a USD 17M contract to Emerson Process Management, a global business of Emerson, for automating a new offshore production platform in the Solan oil field on the U.K. Continental Shelf. Emerson’s technologies and services will enable Premier to manage the platform 100 miles west of Scotland from an onshore operations centre in Aberdeen.
Designed for unmanned operations, the platform could serve as a model for future developments in marginal fields where such operations can help increase profits as well as worker safety. The Solan field is expected to produce approximately 40M barrels of oil, with an estimated initial production rate of 24,000 barrels a day by the end of 2014.
As the project’s main automation and electrical contractor, Emerson will provide full project services including project management, detailed design, configuration, acceptance testing, commissioning and start-up support as part of a complete solution.
The integrated solution will use Emerson’s PlantWeb digital plant architecture, including its DeltaV digital automation system, DeltaV SIS process safety system, CSI 6500 Machinery Health Monitor, and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software. Other elements will include Emerson’s Rosemount pressure, temperature, radar level, and vortex flow transmitters; Micro Motion Coriolis flowmeters; and Roxar sand monitors and multiphase flowmeters.
Emerson will also provide electrical switchgear, uninterruptible power supplies, and satellite telecommunication equipment, as well as an operator training solution that simulates real-world situations to prepare operations personnel for incident management.