The Rita field was discovered in 1996 by the Conoco operated 44/22c-9 well. E.ON Ruhrgas developed a step out well from a surface location 1.74km to the south east of the 44/22c-9 wellsite to the host location at the existing Hunter wellhead, located in the Caister Murdoch System (CMS) facilities 14km from the Rita wellhead.
The control of Rita was via a multiplexed electro-hydraulic control system and a tree-mounted Subsea Control Module. The control system was an extension of the existing CMSIII Subsea Control System, based on the Murdoch Platform.
The E.ON Ruhrgas development required a preliminary engineering study to confirm the route, pipeline material selection and detail a specification for procurement of the Long Lead Items (LLIs) to meet the design life of 15 years. The engineering study included field development drawings of the pipeline routing, approaches and crossings, wellhead tie-ins and functional specifications to procure LLIs.