The Solan oil field is situated within production licence P164 in the UK North Sea, in waters 135 metres (m) deep.
The field is owned and operated by Harbour Energy and was developed with an estimated investment of $850m (£646m).
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The field development plan (FDP) for the Solan field was approved by the UK Government in April 2012. Drilling activities commenced in April 2013 and the first production from the field was achieved in April 2016.
The field has a production rate of 28,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
In May 2024, the environmental impact assessment for decommissioning was issued. The decommissioning activities in the Solan field are expected to begin in 2026 and continue until 2031.
Solan Oil Field project location
The Solan field is located in the waters west of Shetland, approximately 135km from the main Shetland Island and 165km north of mainland Scotland. It is positioned in Block 205/26a of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) at water depths of 135m.
Discovery and drilling of Solan
Solan was discovered in 1991 by US-based Amerada Hess (now, Hess) with the drilling of the 205/26a-4 vertical discovery well. The discovery well flowed at a rate of 8,346bopd.
Amerada carried out a 3D field survey of about 260m² in 1993. Based on the survey, Amerada drilled three appraisal wells during the 1990s. The company did not undertake development due to low oil prices and volumetric risk.
Another survey of 1,200km² was carried out by BP/Arco in 1995. In 2007, the field was acquired by Chrysaor, which conducted two appraisal-drilling programmes in 2008 and 2009.
The appraisal activities proved the feasibility of the field development and a northern extension of the field, called the Strathmore discovery. Premier became a partner in the Solan field in 2011. In March 2021, Premier and Chrysaor completed an all-share merger to form Harbour Energy.
Geology and reserves of the North Sea field
Solan includes a combined structural/stratigraphic trap containing an 850ft-high hydrocarbon column of the Jurassic age. The accumulation is spread over an area of 7.1km². It is enclosed by claystone of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation on the top and Lower Solan Mudstone at the base. The oil present in the reservoir has medium viscosity with a low gas-to-oil ratio.
Solan oil field development details
Solan was developed with three production wells and two injection wells. The 205/26A-8/8Z/8Y appraisal well was re-entered and side-tracked to convert into a producer. The 205/26A-7/7Z appraisal well was used as an injector.
The wells were tied back to a normally unmanned conventional steel platform through subsea flowlines and control lines.
Infrastructure details
Produced oil is stored in a specially designed 300,000-barrel subsea storage tank and offloaded via shuttle tankers. The tank has avoided the need to build a costly submarine pipeline. It also greatly reduces the impact on the environment.
The Solan platform is supported by a piled steel jacket. The topsides weigh 3,500 tonnes (t) and the jacket weighs 8,000t. The platform is designed to process up to 28,000bopd of dry oil and 35,000bpd of liquids.
The facility with the capacity to accommodate 30 men was manned only during the first year of its operation and has sufficient capacity to support third-party tie-ins.
Contractors involved with the Solan oil field project
Atkins Global was responsible for the structural design and assessment of the offshore facilities. Ocean Installer was contracted to carry out an offshore survey for the project. The company deployed its Normand Clipper vessel to conduct the survey.
Awilco Drilling provided drilling services for the project.
The procurement and fabrication of the topsides and jacket of the processing platform were awarded to Burntisland Fabricators (BiFab) in 2012 as part of a £145m ($233m) contract. BiFab’s Methil, Burntisland and Arnish manufacturing facilities were involved in the work. Offshore Design Engineering acted as a subcontractor to BiFab for the detailed design stage of the project.
ADIL was responsible for the construction of the subsea storage tank under a £15m ($24m) contract. Heerema was responsible for the installation of the platform and subsea tank. Shetland Maritime provided marine support.
Two offshore grouting contracts were awarded to FoundOcean, with Heerema Marine Contractors and Bibby Offshore awarded two subcontracts to FoundOcean for providing grouting services for the project. The contractual scope includes structural grouting for the 8,000t Solan platform jacket, the specially designed 300,000 barrels subsea storage facility, and pile-grouting for the offloading system base. The offloading system carries oil to a shuttle tanker from the subsea storage facility.
Aker Solutions was awarded a three-year contract worth more than £30m in April 2013 to provide hook-up, commissioning and facility management services at the field.
Emerson Process secured a $17m contract to provide project management services, detailed designing, commissioning, configuration, electrical and telecommunication equipment for the production platform of the Solan oil field.
