Offshore staff
MELBOURNE, Australia – FAR and its joint venture partners continue to evaluate results from appraisal wells on the deepwater SNE oil field offshore Senegal.
SNE-2, SNE-3, BEL-1, SNE-4, and theSNE discovery well, were drilled over an area stretching 9 km (5.6 mi) in a north-south direction (BEL-1 to SNE-3) and 5 km (3.1 mi) to the east (SNE-4).
All the wells confirmed a roughly 100-m (328-ft) gross oil column, high-quality 32° API oil, and the presence and correlation of principal reservoir units across the field.
In addition, flow tests from SNE-2 and SNE-3 indicated the potential for commercially viable well production rates.
The project has now moved into the pre-front-end engineering and design phase with development planning under way. The current focus is on optimizing and scaling the development which will likely form an anchor project with scope for expansion and tiebacks.
FAR expects appraisal drilling will resume on the field in early 2017, the aims being to confirm volumes and assess the connectivity of the upper reservoirs; to evaluate reservoirs not previously tested; and to improve definition and scale of the first-phase development.
It will involve two firm wells plus options for further wells.
FAR’s own pre-engineering studies, conducted with engineering consultancy AMOG, have resulted in a concept development plan based on a P50 (2C) Contingent Resource of 641 MMbbl.
The favored solution is a standalone FPSO with topsides expansion capability for later SNE field development phases and satellite tiebacks.
FAR anticipates a plateau production rate of 140,000 b/d and first oil in 2022, with development expenditure in the range of $13-15/bbl; and opex expenditure of $12-14/bbl (including FPSO lease costs).
The development cost would be split between drilling and completions (45%); subsea (46%); and project and others (9%).
Over the last two years, FAR points out, offshore drilling and subsea costs have decreased by more than 20%. Opportunities are also under investigation to further reduce well and subsea costs through design optimization and standardization, with cost-effective FPSO conversion opportunities available that could also accelerate production.
10/31/2016
