Rhyl

Location

The Rhyl field is situated north of the North Morecambe field, approximately 25km southwest of Walney Island, across blocks 110/2a, 110/3a, 110/8a, and 113/27b in the East Irish Sea.

Discovery and Production

The Rhyl field was discovered in 2009. It was brought into production in March 2013.

Development and Infrastructure

The Rhyl field has been developed as a two-well subsea tieback to the DPPA (Normally Unmanned Installation) platform, which acts as the main gathering hub for the area. The gas from Rhyl is processed through the North Morecambe platform before being exported via a 12” pipeline to the Barrow Gas Terminals.

Gas Composition and Processing

The gas from the Rhyl field features high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and some nitrogen (N2), but no chemical mitigation measures were required offshore. However, an eductor was installed to ensure that the North Morecambe field was not backed out by the higher pressure gas from the Rhyl field.

Production and Export

The gas from Rhyl, along with the other fields in the Morecambe Hub, is processed at the Barrow Gas Terminals before entry into the National Transmission System. This infrastructure also provides gathering and processing services for third-party operations.

Future Prospects and Decommissioning

The Rhyl manifold was designed to accommodate additional Rhyl wells or to tie back any further discoveries in the northern part of the basin. While there are no immediate plans for new explorations or developments by Spirit Energy, the company remains open to third-party opportunities for transportation and processing services.

Decommissioning Activities

Although the Rhyl field itself is not currently undergoing decommissioning, nearby infrastructure such as the Bains subsea development and the Rhyl 113/27b-9 well were safely abandoned and their subsea infrastructure removed in accordance with the approved decommissioning programme in 2018.

In summary, the Rhyl gas field is an integral part of the Morecambe Hub, contributing to the UK's domestic gas supply and benefiting from the extensive infrastructure and processing capabilities of the hub.