In June 2002, Burlington Resources received formal approval for its £165 million Rivers Fields development. These consist of five gas fields -Calder, Darwen, Crossans, Hodder and Asland. The fields, of which Calder is regarded as the largest in reserves, are situated in blocks 110/2b, 110/la, 110/lc, 110/Sa, 110/9a and 110/14 to the south of Millom. The field nearest to the shore – Asland – is approximately 20km west of the English coast and 35km north of the Welsh coast. There are thought to contain at least 300 billion cubic feet. The development will be based on a production platform on Calder platform, of similar size to that installed at Millom West. The project also includes a new 45km long, 24in diameter pipeline to carry gas to a new onshore treatment plant being built adjacent to the existing North Morecambe Terminal in Barrow, Cumbria. Burlington began work on the Rivers Development in February 2001, and just eight months later awarded an Engineering, Procurement, Installation and Commissioning (EPIC) contract for the platform and export pipeline to the Rivers Joint Venture, comprising Genesis Oil and Gas London and Allseas of the Netherlands. In January 2002, a £60 million Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management (EPCM) contract for the onshore gas compression and treatment plant at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria was awarded at the same time to Costain Oil and Gas Limited of Manchester. By the time Calder comes on stream around the end of 2003, Burlington will have spent around £400 million in the East Irish Sea, and will be producing around 210 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, just six years after entering the UKCS.
Rivers, Irish Sea, Burlington Resources, Europe(North),