Emerson Awarded $17M Contract by Premier Oil

Premier Oil

has awarded Emerson Process Management, a global business of Emerson

, a $17 million contract to automate a new offshore production platform in the Solan oil field on the U.K. Continental Shelf. Emerson's technologies and services will enable Premier to safely and efficiently manage the platform 100 miles west of Scotland from an onshore operations center in Aberdeen. Designed for unmanned operations, the platform could serve as a model for future developments in marginal fields, where such operations can help increase profits as well as worker safety. The Solan field is expected to produce approximately 40 million barrels of oil, with an estimated initial production rate of 24,000 barrels a day by the end of