Press Releases

'Green' Gas project up and running - January 2006

News article courtesy of The Press & Journal, Aberdeen.

A World-first project using only wind and solar power to produce gas from a British field has come into operation.
The Cutter find in the southern North Sea is an £80million development by Shell UK and ExxonMobil.

Operator Shell said yesterday that the unmanned Trident Monotower was the smallest satellite platform in the North Sea, near the Carrack platform.

The concept was developed to lower costs and makes smaller pockets of oil and gas economically recoverable.

Shell expects to use the technology in relatively-shallow waters elsewhere in the North Sea near bigger production platforms.

The topside structure weighs only 150 tonnes; less than half the size of most other satellite platforms and tiny in comparison to big platforms such as the Brents, which each weigh around 20,000 tonnes.

Shell said the design of the Monotower was based on the construction of offshore wind turbines and rested on a single leg. It has no helicopter deck and scheduled maintenance will be carried out once every two years with a jack-up rig, while interim inspection visits will be made by boat.

Tom Botts, executive vice-president with Shell Exploration and Production in Europe, said: "This is a world first in innovative, environmentally sustainable design.

"Production from the Cutter field will increase Shell's contribution to UK security of energy supplies and highlights our continued commitment to the development of North Sea opportunities."

"This is another step forward for Shell in developing marginal gas fields through world-class project management."

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks added: "Every new development in the UK continental shelf is important, but this development is a real example of innovative thinking; transferring the latest generation of renewable technology into the existing oil and gas industry to secure more energy for the UK without increasing carbon emissions."

The design of the Cutter platform is virtually identical to that of Shell and ExxonMobil's K17 platform in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, which came on stream last month but is not yet using renewable technology.

Shell said the common approach to design and installation for both platforms resulted in substantial cost savings.

Cutter is around 75 miles from the Norfolk coast. It exports to the Bacton gas plant through the Shell-operated Carrack and Clipper platforms.

Plateau production is estimated to be around 100million standard cubic feet of gas a day, while recoverable reserves are about 25million barrels of oil equivalent.

The field is expected to be producing for at least 15 years.

Shell has 51.3% in Cutter and ExxonMobil 48.7%.

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