Offshore staff

CALGARY, Canada – Antrim Energy and Valiant Petroleum have agreed on early installation of subsea facilities for the Fionn field development in the UK northern North Sea.

Fionn, in block 211/22a South East Area, was formerly known as the Central Causeway fault block.

Last month, however, the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change(DECC) assigned separate field designations to Fionn and Causeway, the latter containing what were previously referred to as the East Causeway and Far East Causeway fault blocks.

Late in December, DECC approved a development plan for Causeway, where first oil is slated for mid-2012.

Under the terms of the Fionn agreement, various subsea facilities will be installed during the first half of this year in tandem with work on the Causeway facilities. This ‘pre-investment’ is designed to minimize Fionn’s development costs.

Valiant will finance Antrim's share of these costs. And for three months following first oil from Causeway, Antrim has the option either to withdraw from the Fionn project, or confirm its participation by paying its 35.1% share of the pre-investment outlay.

Operator Valiant Causeway will likely submit a development plan for Fionn to DECC during the current quarter.

Fionn’s production will be combined with output from Causeway, transported for processing to the TAQA-operated Cormorant North platform, and exported to the Sullom Voe terminal on Shetland for sale.

First oil from the field is expected in mid-2013.

01/24/2012