WIRELINE - Autumn 2017

Bridge to the future

An ambitious and multi-faceted programme, centred upon one of the UK North Sea’s oldest platforms, is reaping rewards for the team at Repsol Sinopec Resources UK and the wider supply chain. Wireline explores the principles of maximising economic recovery in action.

“T he Montrose Area Redevelopment (MAR) has been the most challenging project of my career but highly rewarding,” says general manager Brian Winton. A strong endorsement from someone who was there at the start and has seen it all. Industry veteran Brian was working in maintenance offshore when production was just getting under way on the Montrose platform in 1976. He recalls the excitement of that time and the strong feeling of community. “If there was a problem anywhere, it was all hands-on deck. It was about having quality conversations with individuals and I think that’s still important.

“And lunchtimes and evenings were for fishing – you’d often have rows of people with their lines,” reminisces Brian. “Anything we caught was taken down to the galley and it was fresh fish for all for the evening meal.” Now, more than 40 years on, he is again playing a pivotal role in the field’s journey as it goes through something of a re-birth, with a £1.9 billion life extension programme encompassing a much wider network of fields and prolonging production to beyond 2030. “The wider industry can look at what we’ve done and see it’s possible to execute major developments with

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