Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”), via its subsidiary Ping Petroleum, has taken delivery of the Sevan Hummingbird Floating Production Storage and Offloading (“FPSO”) vessel from marine energy transportation company, Teekay Corporation.

Acquisition of the FPSO is a critical milestone in the Central North Sea Avalon Development Project, which the company continues to progress after receiving a letter of “no objections” from the North Sea Transition Authority (“NSTA”) in March this year for its proposed Avalon development plans.

Ping has also been recently granted a 19-month extension by NSTA to the second term of the P2006 licence containing Avalon. This allows the company additional time to optimise and gain full regulatory approval of the Avalon Field Development Plan.

The proposed development concept includes plans to deploy the Sevan Hummingbird FPSO at the Avalon field which will be modified to facilitate electrification from an external, low-carbon source. The company is evaluating options to connect the FPSO to a dedicated floating offshore wind turbine to power the facility, minimising diesel usage and associated Greenhouse Gas emissions. The planned development allows Ping to expand and diversify its portfolio of producing assets in full compliance with the UK’s energy security and Net Zero targets.

Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of DNeX, said the acquisition of the Sevan Hummingbird FPSO is a key milestone for the Avalon oilfield and that the Group anticipates full operational deployment of the facility on Avalon by 2025.

“We have a tangible asset ready with the newly acquired Sevan Hummingbird. Our next step is to secure approval for our Field Development Plan, which will be submitted in the coming months,” he said.

First commissioned in 2008, the Sevan Hummingbird FPSO is a 60 metre-diameter facility, which has a storage capacity of 270,000 barrels of oil and is capable of producing up to 30,000 barrels of oil per day, supporting up to 47 offshore personnel.

With a total estimated ultimate recovery (“EUR”) of 23 million barrels of oil reserves over a period of 12 years, oil production from Ping’s second oilfield asset is expected to come onstream in 2025.

The Avalon prospect was successfully drilled in 2014 where oil was discovered from high quality Tertiary sands. In 2017 an appraisal well was drilled on the prospect which confirmed reserves and fluid characteristics. Operatorship was transferred to Ping Petroleum UK Plc in April 2018.

KeyFacts Energy: Ping Petroleum UK country profile