Shell has completed the restart of operations at the Pierce field in the UK Central North Sea, following a significant upgrade to allow gas to be produced after years of the field producing only oil.

Substantial modifications were made to the Haewene Brim floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), which is used to produce hydrocarbons at the Pierce field. A new subsea gas export line was also installed, connecting to the SEGAL pipeline system, which brings gas ashore at St Fergus, north of Aberdeen.

Shell Upstream Director Zoe Yujnovich said the company took the investment decision in 2019, and it is now increasing locally produced gas right at the time when additional supply is critically important for the UK’s energy security.

“It’s a source of huge satisfaction when projects like Pierce come to fruition.”

To enable the upgrade, the FPSO, which is owned and operated by Bluewater, stopped producing in October 2021. It then spent six months in dry dock where it was transformed into a vessel that could also produce gas, which had previously been re-injected into the reservoir.

Peak production is expected to reach 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which is more than twice the production prior to the redevelopment, with more gas being produced than oil. The gas will be sent through newly installed subsea pipelines and the oil will be transported by tanker, as before.

The redevelopment of the field is consistent with the UK Government’s North Sea Transition Deal and Shell’s Powering Progress strategy, providing the energy people need today while helping to fund investments in the low-carbon energy system of the future.

Other recent UK projects include Shell’s plans to develop floating offshore wind in Scotland which could bring clean energy to power the equivalent of six million homes, the Jackdaw gas field, as well as its commitment to growing the UK’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The Pierce project is one of eight investment decisions Shell UK took in 2018 and 2019 alone in order to sustain North Sea production. These projects ranged from major redevelopments such as Pierce and Penguins, to tiebacks from fields such as Fram and Arran to existing platforms.

Pierce is a joint arrangement between Shell companies (operator, 92.52%) and Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited (7.48%).