Aberdeen, Scotland; July 15, 2015 — The sail-away and installation of the Alder Project’s topsides module has been safely and successfully completed, marking a major project milestone. The 800 metric ton topsides module was installed on 30 June 2015, one day earlier than planned. RLG International has supported the Alder Topsides team since early 2014 in optimizing delivery of the module with its Project Excellence (Px^™) and Operating Rhythm^™ methodologies.

The topsides structure was built in a Newcastle shipyard and travelled via transport barge 110 miles (175 kilometres) to the Firth of Forth. The module was then transferred to the Oleg Strashnov heavy lift vessel, which set sail for the Central North Sea. After arriving on location on 29 June, the module was safely and successfully installed onto the Britannia Bridge Linked Platform (BLP), where Alder produced fluids will be processed following the offshore hook up and commissioning campaign.

The Alder Field

The Alder Field will be developed via a single subsea well tied back to the existing Britannia Platform via a 28 kilometre pipeline. The Alder well is expected to be drilled in 2015 with the Blackford Dolphin drilling rig.

Alder is a high pressure high temperature gas condensate field is located in Block 15/29a, in a water depth of 150 metres, approximately 160 kilometres from the Scottish coastline, and 60 kilometres from the UK/Norway median line.

The project has a planned design capacity of 110 million cubic feet of natural gas and 14,000 barrels of condensate per day. First production is expected in 2016 and gas will be exported to the Scottish Area Gas Evacuation (SAGE) terminal at St Fergus.  Chevron North Sea Limited operates the project and has a 73.684% interest, with co-venturer ConocoPhillips (UK) Limited (26.316%).