PRIVATE French operator Perenco is preparing to sanction a $150 million investment to install new, slimmed compression equipment on a self-elevating platform to serve two UK southern North Sea gas fields as it looks to cut running costs and extend field life by at least a decade. The scheme, dubbed SHARP - or Southern Hub Area Rationalisation Project - will remove redundant compression kit from each of the Leman 49/27 and Indefatigable (Inde) 49/23 fields and replace it with a single set of low-pressure compression equipment that will be shared by both. Each field was originally developed with its own dedicated low-pressure and high-pressure compression equipment but over time requirements have gradually declined as the fields have matured and flow rates have fallen. "These big hubs are 50 years old and in spite of our best efforts they are becoming more challenging to operate," Laurent Combe, Perenco's UK southern North Sea general manager told Upstream. "You have to spend more and more efforts trying to maintain them."
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