Wintershall has started production of natural gas on its unmanned mini-platform L6-B off the Dutch North Sea coast.

The first so called “Minimum Facility” platform was built in just nine months and brought to its offshore location in June 2014. These platforms can be deployed in particularly shallow waters and can produce even from very small natural gas fields.

The platform is located in field L6-B in the middle of a restricted military zone, and Wintershall Noordzee is the first company that is allowed to operate in this area. The facility is anchored in the seabed through suction piles, rises about 18 meters above the sea and has three decks but no helideck. The facility can accommodate maximum 2 producing wells.

Since there is only minimum processing equipment on the platform, the expected visit frequency is low. The substructure weighs 1,100 tons, the top side just around 100 tons. To compare, the close by platform L8-P4 weighs 4,500 tons. From there the mini-platform is controlled, operated and supplied with electricity. A subsea pipeline will transport the gas produced in L6-B to the neighboring platform L8-P4.