Fresh start-up delay hits Yme as fabrication stalls

摘要

START-UP of the Repsol-operated Yme field project off Norway is set to be stalled by more than a year to late 2021 as fabrication work on a converted jack-up production unit has been hit by Covid-19 and technical issues, according to partner Lotos E&P. Repsol had previously pushed back the start-up date for the troubled North Sea scheme from the second quarter to the second half of this year as downmanning at Aker Solutions' Egersund yard due to the pandemic, as well as testing delays, have stalled conversion work on jack-up Maersk Inspirer. However, Lotos late last week stated in its half-year financial report that while Repsol now sees first oil from the field in the third quarter of 2021 after expected completion of the production unit by the end of this year, the Polish partner itself has a "more conservative" date of the fourth quarter of next year.