Energy and process industry specialist, the px Group, has signed a long term agreement with North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP) to operate and maintain (O&M) the St. Fergus Gas Terminal and associated Frigg UK and SIRGE offshore pipelines.
The O&M agreement, signed today (27th August), will take effect on completion of the sale of these assets by Total to NSMP as separately announced by Total.
The Frigg UK Pipeline (FUKA) is a 362-kilometer, 32” gas pipeline delivering gas from some 20 fields in the Northern North Sea to the terminal at St. Fergus, about 35km north of Aberdeen. Total holds a 100% operated interest in the FUKA pipeline.
The St. Fergus Gas Terminal is a three-train processing plant with a capacity of 2,648 million cubic feet of gas per day (Mmscf/d). Total also holds a 100% operated interest in the terminal.
The Shetland Island Regional Gas Export System (SIRGE) is a 234-kilometer, 30” gas pipeline with a capacity of 665 Mmscf/d connecting the Shetland Gas Plant to the FUKA pipeline. Total holds a 67% operated interest in the SIRGE pipeline alongside Dong E&P (UK) Limited (18.3%), Chevron North Sea Limited (7.2%) and OMV (UK) Limited (7.5%).
Director of Operations at px, Stewart Mortlock, will oversee the commencement of the contract later this year. Total staff working on the site – and some staff in Aberdeen – will transfer to px under the TUPE employment regulations, increasing the business’ headcount by around 25%. Resident contractors working on the assets will continue to do so as px intends to carry on with these key contracts.
A new Aberdeen office will be opened by px to provide engineering and commercial management of the infrastructure.
At the same time as taking on operations at St. Fergus, px has extended its O&M contract at Teesside Gas Processing Plant – also owned by NSMP.
Chief Executive Officer with px, Ian Clifford, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as the operations and maintenance partner for one of the UK’s largest gas processing operations and to extend our long standing agreement on Teesside.
“This significantly grows and strengthens our business, provides job security for existing employees and is likely to create around 25 new positions over the coming months. It also further demonstrates the competency and skill set of the px group to provide professional O&M services to the oil and gas industry.
“As a business working in high hazard industries, we make the safety of our people and the protection of the environment our top priorities. So the most important thing now is to ensure a safe and smooth transition of operations at St. Fergus and incident free operation in the years ahead, while maximising the efficiency of the plant.”
Headquartered at Stockton, on Teesside, the group has 20 years’ experience of managing high hazard facilities and operates a further ten sites around the UK. These include fossil fuel and renewable power generation plants and fuel storage depots. As a fully integrated energy infrastructure solutions business it currently employs 300 people, also providing energy trading and engineering consultancy services.