Dunlin Story

Discovered in 1973, the Greater Dunlin Area is located in UK Block 211/23a and 211/24 of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, some 500 km north-northeast of Aberdeen within the East Shetland Basin, and 11 km from the boundary line with Norway. The Dunlin Alpha platform was installed in 1977, comprising a Concrete Gravity Base structure which supported an integrated production, drilling and accommodation topsides. The infrastructure included Dunlin, Dunlin South West, Osprey and Merlin fields. Oil production was exported from Dunlin Alpha via pipeline to the Cormorant Alpha platform, and from there by pipeline to the Sullom Voe oil terminal in the Shetland Islands.

During its lifetime, the Greater Dunlin Area supported thousands of jobs and contributed billions of pounds in tax revenues, whilst supporting UK energy creation. Moreover, in excess of 522 million barrels of oil were produced from the Greater Dunlin Area. When the Dunlin Alpha platform was installed in 1977 and production started the following year, it had an expected design life of 25 years in common with other platforms of its vintage.

A combination of challenges in 2015, including the requirement to invest significant additional sums in ageing infrastructure and a sustained low oil price, led to the determination that it was not economically viable to continue production. Termination of Production from the Greater Dunlin Area was announced in June 2015, following achievement of Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) from the oilfields. Cessation of Production (COP) was agreed with the Oil and Gas Authority in July 2015, with COP confirmed to have occurred on 15 June 2015.