Simon stores condensate from Centrica’s North Sea gas operations
Simon Storage Ltd (“Simon”) has entered into a new agreement with Centrica Storage Ltd (“CSL”) a wholly owned subsidiary of UK based energy company, Centrica plc, for the receipt, storage and redelivery of gas condensate, a co-product of natural gas production. Simon will receive condensate into storage at its Immingham West Terminal from CSL’s processing plant at Easington, East Yorkshire directly by pipeline. Simon has recently completed the construction on time and on budget of two new 3,000m3 carbon steel tanks for the contract, together with dedicated pipelines for handling the Products and associated infrastructure for redelivery of condensate to sea.
The storage and handling of condensate at Simon’s Immingham facility on Humberside will correspond with the completion of Centrica Energy’s York Project, a multi-million pound programme to build a gas platform and pipeline approximately 34km off the East Yorkshire Coast. Raw gas extracted from the York field will be processed by CSL at Easington. Natural gas is separated from liquid condensate during processing. Once extracted, the condensate, a light oil similar to paraffin, is stabilised for use in a range of industries, including fuels and petrochemicals.
The York condensate will be co-mingled with condensate generated as part of CSL’s separate processing of gas from its Rough gas storage facility, located in the Southern North Sea, around 7km from the York field.
Located on England’s east coast on the south bank of the river Humber, Simon’s Immingham terminal will provide a strategic storage and distribution hub for condensate from CSL’s Easington plant. An existing 40km pipeline under the Humber will be used by CSL to transport condensate to the Terminal where it will be received directly into storage. The new storage tanks incorporate internal floating roofs to minimise vapour emissions, and roofs are externally stiffened to maximise internal volume. These new tanks have been designed and built in accordance with process safety standards recommended post Buncefield, which includes the fitting of overfill safety systems linked to ROSOVs (remotely operated shut-off valves). The status of ROSOVs, tank levels and other process information is communicated to a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and tank visualisation system.
From left to right : Clive Hewins, Terminal Manager Immingham West; Jim Tonge, York Project Manager, Centrica Storage Ltd; Glenn Sibbick, Projects Director, Centrica Storage Ltd; Keith Sanderson, Commercial Manager, Centrica Storage Ltd
The completion of the new tanks coincided with a visit to the Immingham terminal by the directors of Inter Pipeline Fund, led by Chairman John Driscoll. Declaring the new facilities open in a ribbon cutting ceremony, John Driscoll noted that Immingham Storage has a history of long standing customer relationships, and welcomed Centrica to the customer portfolio.
Glenn Sibbick, Projects Director for CSL, added “The new condensate storage contract at Immingham reflects Centrica’s long term investment in the UK’s energy industry, and in the Humber region. We appreciate the commitment and professionalism shown by Simon in making these facilities available on schedule, and are looking forward to working together with Simon.”
