BP and its partner, Iranian Oil Company UK Limited (IOC UK Ltd) announced on 20 December that gas production and export had begun from the Rhum field, the UK’s largest undeveloped gas discovery, 385km NE of Aberdeen.
The Rhum development is a 44-km long subsea tieback to the BP-operated Bruce field, and is expected to access recoverable reserves of 23 bcum of gas, which will be exported onwards from Bruce via the Frigg pipeline system to St Fergus; associated condensate will be piped via Bruce into the Forties pipeline system.
With the combination of a high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) gas reservoir developed using a long-distance subsea tie-back, Rhum is a world first. The field is in 109m of water, and was discovered in 1977. The tie-back line to the Bruce platform is a 22-in diameter high-integrity, pressure-protection system (HIPPS) protected pipe-in-pipe main pipeline; the field's down-hole temperature is around 150C, and pressures reach 87bar (12,700psi). For comparison purposes, the Bruce gasfield records temperatures of 99C and pressures of 41bar (6,000psi).