Offshore staff
CALGARY, Canada – Iona UK Developments Co. has agreed to pay Perenco $20 million for its remaining 80% working interest, rights, and obligations in the Trent and Tyne gas fields in the UK southern North Sea.
Production from the fields continues to be constrained due to the intermittent performance of the fresh water maker at Tyne. Last month the Tyne 44/18-T6 well restarted production at 13 MMcf/d (368,119 cm/d), only to be choked back to 3 MMcf/d (84,950 cm/d) in order to manage salt deposition. Iona is investigating mitigation measures.
Tyne is prone to salt deposition in the wellbore tubulars. As super-saline formation water enters the tubulars it experiences a drop in both temperature and pressure, causing salt to drop out of solution and deposit in the well.
This issue is common to fields in the area and elsewhere with highly saline formation waters. Iona says. Salt build-up in producing wells such as T6 demands continual water washing.
Standard practice is to install a water washing system: fresh water is pumped down the wells, washing salt deposits to surface.
A water maker takes seawater and, by reverse osmosis, generates fresh water for the water washing system. Iona plans improvements to enhance the performance and reliability of the Tyne water maker during the second half of 2014.
In the northern North Sea, Iona operates theOrlando field which it plans to develop via a tieback to CNR’s Ninian Central platform.
Current progress suggests some equipment needed to deliver first oil from Orlando in 2015 will not be completed in time, so start-up has been pushed back to early 2016.
Manufacture of line pipe and christmas trees is virtually complete. Copper cores for the umbilical have been completed and delivered to the umbilical assembly plant, as have piping tie-ins to the platform. Manufacture of the control system continues.
05/27/2014
