Production.
Development.
Security of Supply.
Our proposed development combines compact offshore facilities, subsea production wells and pipeline access to existing processing infrastructure at Barrow, with a share of the gas supplying the Isle of Man.
Compact Offshore Production
Subsea wells would produce the gas through wellheads on the seabed, connected to a small, normally unmanned installation (NUI) above the surface. This approach would keep the permanent above-water facilities compact, with most of the offshore infrastructure beneath the sea.
Unlike traditional gas platforms, it would have no resident workforce, no accommodation and would be powered from shore with no offshore power generation and therefore no gas would be burnt offshore to generate electricity. Controlled remotely from shore, the installation would serve primarily as a well-control and production facility, with personnel visiting only occasionally for inspection and maintenance.
This facility would be approximately 30 metres high and would be situated ~18-22km offshore. At that distance it would be barely discernible to the naked eye and would typically appear as little more than a tiny feature on the horizon.
The production system would be designed as a closed system, with no routine release of gas or production discharges to the sea.
Drilling would also be temporary, lasting only a matter of months.
Environmental impacts, drilling effects, emissions, marine ecology and the risk of accidental releases would all have to be properly assessed and independently regulated before any development could proceed.
Pipeline to Barrow
A new export pipeline would transport gas to Barrow for onshore processing, making use of an established industrial site and existing energy infrastructure.
This brownfield development concept could reduce the need for new land, buildings and duplicated facilities. Reusing existing infrastructure would help minimise construction activity, reduce material requirements and limit environmental disturbance compared with building a new processing terminal from scratch.
Barrow also provides an established route to the UK gas market through existing processing, compression and transmission infrastructure, subject to securing access, confirming available capacity and any upgrades that may be required.
By making use of proven infrastructure, experienced personnel and specialist services, the development could reduce costs, shorten the route to first gas and extend the productive life of existing energy assets.
Gas for the Isle of Man
Although all production would initially be transported to Barrow for processing, the development concept envisages a quantity of gas equivalent to approximately 10% of production being supplied to the Isle of Man.
Following processing, gas would enter the UK transmission system and be transported through the existing UK-Ireland interconnector and the existing Isle of Man spur pipeline.
This approach would avoid the need for a dedicated pipeline to the Island while making use of established infrastructure already connected to the Manx gas network.
The quantity allocated to the Isle of Man would be sufficient to meet current Manx gas demand, with the balance supplying the wider UK market.
The baseline local gas development.
1. Subsea pipeline & Barrow Processing
Gas piped to Barrow for processing at existing facility (dashed red line and red triangle).
2. Domestic Supply
10% of gas piped back to the IoM for domestic supplies through existing pipeline network and Irish interconnector spur (solid red line).
