Offshore staff
(Dallas)- Pioneer Natural Resources Company announced that development activities have commenced on its South Coast Gas project offshore South Africa. Pioneer is partnered with PetroSA, South Africa's national oil company, on the project.
Pioneer holds a 45% working interest in the project, while PetroSA holds the remaining 55% and is the operator. Both companies have board approval for the project.
Once on-stream, the South Coast gas fields will provide feedstock for PetroSA's onshore gas-to-liquids plant in Mossel Bay. Engineering plans are currently being finalized for subsea systems, pipelines, umbilicals and surface equipment modification. Development drilling is scheduled to begin in January 2006.
The South Coast Gas project will include the subsea tie-back of gas from the Sable field, which Pioneer and PetroSA have been jointly producing oil from since 2003. Six additional gas accumulations will also tie back to the project, which will incorporate existing production facilities on the F-A platform for transportation via existing pipelines to the GTL plant.
Production is expected to kick off during the second half of 2007 and increase to an average of approximately 100 MMcf/d of gas and 3,000 b/d of condensate through 2012.
Pioneer Chairman and CEO Scott Sheffield said that the project, "will provide a growing production profile beginning in 2007 and is a good example of an important component of our strategy for adding value-seeking lower-risk opportunities to develop known oil and gas resources with strong economic returns."
12/22/2005
