🛢 Piper oilfield

The Piper oilfield is a substantial North Sea oilfield covering 30.1 square kilometres. It lies roughly halfway between Aberdeen and Bergen, at the eastern end of the Moray Firth basin. Oil extracted from it is piped to Scotland, where it is stabilised at an oil plant on the island of Flotta, in the Orkney archipelago, while gas is shipped via the Frigg gas pipeline. In June 1975, the Piper Alpha oil platform was placed over the field in 144 metres of water, secured in place by 24 piles extending 144 metres beneath the seabed. The platform was designed for simultaneous drilling and production. Piper Alpha was the site of the world's deadliest oil platform disaster when it was destroyed by an explosion in 1988, with the loss of 167 lives. Piper Bravo was installed in 1992. Talisman Energy acquired a controlling interest in 2000.