North Sea Penguins field back onstream following redevelopment

Shell has brought online the redeveloped Penguins oil and gas field in the UK northern North Sea via a Sevan-designed circular FPSO.

Penguins, discovered in 1974, originally started production in 2003 via subsea wells at multiple drill centers, with the wellstream exported through a 65-km pipeline to the Brent C platform.

However, the progressive shutdown of the Brent field complex in recent years necessitated an alternative export solution. Operations at Brent C ceased in 2021.

The FPSO is Shell’s first new platform in the UK North Sea for more than two decades. At peak, it should deliver about 45,000 boe/d, mostly oil; the company estimates Penguins’ remaining recoverable resource at about 100 MMboe.

The facility is designed to generate roughly 30% lower emissions compared with Brent C, and it should extend the field’s life by up to 20 years. A flareless system is designed to recycle vapor back into the tanks.

As part of the redevelopment, Shell has commissioned drilling of additional wells, tied back to the FPSO.

Produced gas will head through an existing subsea pipeline to the St Fergus terminal north of Aberdeen.

Penguins, in 165 m of water, is roughly 150 miles northeast of the Shetland Islands.