Type:
Oil
Facility:
Production
Water Depth:
111
Installed:
1996
meters
Block:
45170
Design:
Fixed steel
Sub Structure:
88000
Topsides Wgt:
23000
tonnes
tonnes
Intro
Harding is a centrally located production, drilling and accommodation platform on the Harding field in Block-9/23b of the UK North Sea, first producing oil in 1996. The facility rests on a concrete gravity base with integrated storage and exports crude via a submerged loading or shuttle tanker system. It also handles associated gas as part of field operations.
Field
The Harding oilfield was discovered in 1987 in the Central North Sea, producing from Eocene sand reservoirs. Water depth at the field is about 110-m. The development encompasses central and southern reservoir accumulations around the main platform. Historical development targeted both oil and associated gas, with storage and export infrastructure integral to the gravity base design.
Facilities
The Harding platform is a large, heavy-duty integrated production and drilling facility supported on a reinforced concrete gravity base that also houses crude storage cells. Multiple production wells are drilled from the central facility into the surrounding Harding reservoirs. Well fluids are separated on topsides with oil sent to storage in the gravity base tanks and periodically exported to shuttle tankers via a submerged loading system (SLS) or newer offshore loading systems tied to the export pipeline. Gas handling includes compression and dehydration for on-field use and export where feasible. Utilities include power generation (gas turbines/engines), HVAC, chemical injection for corrosion and hydrate suppression, produced water handling and safety systems including firewater and emergency shutdowns. Accommodations and control rooms support personnel rotations. The combination of gravity storage and integrated processing suited the field’s modest size and distance from fixed export infrastructure, enabling decoupled oil export while managing gas via pipeline or reinjection.
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