Oil
Exploration Returns to Portland Port
25 October 2001
An
oil exploration rig has returned to the waters of the English Channel off
Dorset and, for the first time since British Gas drilled in 1996, Portland
Port is again playing host to the shoreside support team and the rig’s
supply vessel.
The Anglo-Australian group BHP Billiton, which is exploring Block 97/24,
jointly with Amerada Hess, has chartered the Santa Fe-owned rig MONITOR to
drill some 26 miles south of Portland Bill. MONITOR arrived in the area
from Liverpool Bay on Monday and is expected to remain on station for an
expected duration of three to four weeks.
Also involved in the operation are the Offshore Standby
Vessel VIKING VICTOR, acting as safety vessel, which sailed from Portland
Port on Friday afternoon, the Supply Vessel SABLE SEA, which departed on
Tuesday afternoon, and the Brixham-based Fishing Vessel SARA MARIE,
acting as guardship. Although the Coast Guard site at Osprey Quay was
considered as a base and terminal for the support helicopter, the
facilities were found to be unsuitable
and Bournemouth International Airport is being used instead.
BHP Billiton has taken offices at the port above the Britannia Passenger
Terminal and will have a number of people on site throughout the drilling
period.
Stephen Davies, General Manager at Portland Port said today:
“We
are pleased that BHP Billiton has chosen Portland as its shore support
base and we look forward to working with the company. We have all the
necessary capabilities, including those offered by our tenants, and it is
nice to see an oil company back here once again. This is the third
offshore exploration rig to come to these waters in recent years and the
second to use Portland. Indeed, the contract with British Gas five years
ago was one of the first ever to be won by the commercial port and it is
encouraging to realise how much progress has been made since those early
days.
“People should not expect
Portland ever to become another Aberdeen, even if oil or gas is found in
commercially exploitable quantities. At the same time it is good to have
this activity in our portfolio and we will continue to seek other business
opportunities which can take advantage of our strategic location, the port
infrastructure which we have inherited, and the strengths of the companies
which are based here.”