Spirit Energy has transformed efficiency and production at Morecambe.
The Morecambe Bay gas fields have been a part of Centrica since the Company was founded more than 20 years ago. At one time, they accounted for 15% of the UK’s entire gas needs. They are still a significant production hub. But until recently the ageing infrastructure was beset by problems.
The challenge of extending Morecambe’s life was taken on by the team at Spirit Energy, our specialist exploration and production joint venture with Stadtwerke München. The first task was to shut down the parts of the infrastructure that were no longer needed. We now have one less onshore terminal at Barrow and two fewer platforms to maintain offshore.
The next step was to improve the integrity of the remaining facilities and modernise maintenance strategies to increase uptime. Experts now manage our onshore gas compressor, a key piece of equipment which enables the flow of gas to the grid. Proactive maintenance has helped us to reduce the number of ‘trips’ and failures. Better root cause analysis has enabled us to eliminate defects and get the plant back online quicker when there is a trip.
We are already reaping big benefits and the results have exceeded our expectations. Safety performance is at a five-year high. Production volumes increased from 3.2mmboe in 2018
to 6.7 million in 2019. Production efficiency has more than doubled from a lowly 32% to 77%.
The rationalised and stable asset also costs less to run. Improved working practices and a focus on supply chain efficiencies have reduced operating cost to £100 million in 2019, down from
£140 million the year before.
It is true that we are in the process of selling our stake in Spirit Energy. But weare doing this because Centrica’s journey is back to the consumer. It has nothing to do with the quality of Spirit as a business, which is very high. The turnaround at Morecambe shows what a focused team
can achieve and is a great illustration of Spirit Energy’s potential.
We are already reaping big benefits and the results have exceeded our expectations. Safety performance is at a five-year high. Production volumes increased from 3.2mmboe in 2018 to 6.7 million in 2019. Production efficiency has more than doubled from a lowly 32% to 77%. The rationalised and stable asset also costs less to run. Improved working practices and a focus on supply chain efficiencies have reduced operating cost to £100 million in 2019, down from £140 million the year before.
It is true that we are in the process of selling our stake in Spirit Energy. But we are doing this because Centrica’s journey is back to the consumer. It has nothing to do with the quality of Spirit as a business, which is very high. The turnaround at Morecambe shows what a focused team can achieve and is a great illustration of Spirit Energy’s potential.