Ithaca contracts Ensco rig for North Sea Harrier multi-lateral

Jan. 12, 2017
Ithaca Energy anticipates production starting next month from its Greater Stella Area project in the UK central North Sea.

Offshore staff

CALGARY, Canada – Ithaca Energy anticipates production starting next month from its Greater Stella Area (GSA) project in the UK central North Sea.

The sole outstanding major issue is completion of fault remediation works on the electrical junction boxes of the refurbished semisubmersible platformFPF-1.

Ithaca says the inspection and repair program is progressing well, although rough offshore weather conditions have impacted the pace of activities on the vessel at times.

Work on the tieback of the Harrier field to the GSA production hub will get under way later this year. The development involves drilling a multi-lateral well into the field’s two reservoir formations, tied back via a 7.5-km (4.6-mi) pipe to a spare slot on the Stella main drill center manifold for processing of production on theFPF-1. 

Ensco Offshore UK will provide a heavy-duty jackup which is expected to arrive at the offshore location this spring, with drilling likely to be completed during the second half of 2017.

Subsea infrastructure installation will follow in summer 2018, with production starting later that year.

Ithaca says capex for the development has been reduced following detailed well engineering design, which replaced the two originally envisaged wells with one multi-lateral. Another factor was securing attractive contracting terms across the supply chain.

01/12/2017