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T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E U K O F F S H O R E O I L A N D G A S I N D U S T R Y
“Antin is a new player to the North Sea
and offers a different business model.
It is solely focussed on infrastructure
investment. With this dedicated focus,
we can make a difference. That is what
maximising economic recovery from the
UKCS (MER UK) is all about and can only
be good for the basin.
“Moreover, Antin’s involvement represents
the introduction of fund capital that
would otherwise not have been there,
and potentially releases capital that
upstream companies might invest in other
upstream assets.”
Changing lanes
Although today Andy is leading a business
with a pivotal role in sustaining and
enhancing UKCS gas production, he
didn’t initially have his sights set on an
oil and gas career.
A
ndy Hessell is relishing what he calls
“a once-in-a-career opportunity”.
As managing director of CATS
Management Limited (CML), he heads up
the business now operating the Central
Area Transmission System (CATS) – critical
to the UK Continental Shelf’s (UKCS)
gas production.
With first gas carried through the system
in 1993, CATS’ 400-plus kilometre
pipeline extends from the central
North Sea to a terminal at Teesside and
transports gas ashore for processing from
11 UKCS hubs comprising more than
30 producing fields. In 2014, the system
delivered almost eight billion cubic metres
of gas to UK markets, representing about
one fifth of domestic gas production and
ten per cent of demand.
At the end of last year, Antin
Infrastructure Partners completed a deal
“
We have started
the process of exploring
with shippers what we
can do to get the most
out of their hubs and
how we can align
with their individual
operations.
PLATFORM
FPSO
IN-FIELD PIPELINE
OIL EXPORT PIPELINE
CATS GAS PIPELINE
GAS EXPORT PIPELINE
SUBSEA TEMPLATE
ABERDEEN
CATS TERMINAL
TEESSIDE
The CATS 400-plus kilometre pipeline
transports gas ashore for processing from
11 UKCS hubs comprising more than
30 producing fields
Andy Hessell, managing director of CATS Management Limited, is steering the
company’s three-pronged business plan that comprises the safe, reliable and efficient
operation of CATS; supporting the MER UK agenda from all connected hubs; and
capturing new business opportunities
with BP resulting in it owning 99 per cent
of CATS through its company CML.
Andy says: “CATS has been well run and
well maintained by BP, with no critical
maintenance backlog on the terminal and
13 years without a lost-time incident, but
it was not a core part of their business.