Centrica has confirmed to Rigzone that a vessel came into contact with Centrica Storage Limited’s 47/3 Bravo platform on the North Sea rough gas field at around 12pm on April 22.
“There were no injuries reported, and all personnel were safe and accounted for,” a Centrica spokesperson told Rigzone.
“The safety of our employees and partners is our number one priority and, as a precaution, we sent all non-essential platform personnel home. Our emergency response plan was put into action to deal with and investigate the incident,” the spokesperson added.
A HM Coastguard spokesperson told Rigzone that the agency was alerted at about 12.10pm on April 22 to a report of a collision between a vessel and an offshore gas installation in the North Sea, off the coast of Yorkshire.
“No coastguard teams needed to be sent and there were no reports of casualties, pollution or structural damage to the platform,” the spokesperson said.
Rigzone has asked both Centrica and HM Coastguard for information on the shipowner. Neither has provided any details on this to Rigzone at the time of writing.
Centrica Storage Limited has two offshore platforms on the Rough gas field - 47/3 Bravo and 47/8 Alpha – the Centrica website shows. The 47/3 Bravo is described as the company’s “main manned complex” on the site, which highlights that the platform is split into three separate bridge-linked platforms and operates 24 wells.
The platform withdraws gas from the wells as a vapor, which is then piped through a 36-inch subsea pipeline to its Easington Terminal, where it undergoes several separation processes before being sent into the National Transmission System (NTS), the site outlines. The 47/8 Alpha platform was the original installation and produced the first gas from Rough but is now an unmanned cold stacked platform, the site notes.
In October 2022, Centrica announced the reopening of the Rough gas storage facility, “having completed significant engineering upgrades over the summer and commissioning over early autumn”.
The initial investment program meant the company had made its first injection of gas into the site in over five years and was in a position to store up to 30 billion cubic feet of gas for UK homes and businesses over winter 2022/23, a statement posted on Centrica’s site at the time outlined.
“Our long-term aim remains to turn the Rough field into the world’s biggest methane and hydrogen storage facility, bolstering the UK’s energy security, delivering a net zero electricity system by 2035”, Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea said in the statement.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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