Offshore staff
EDINBURGH, UK – Woodside has awarded Wood three contracts to perform subsea and flow assurance studies supporting the SNE field development in the Rufisque, Sangomar and Sangomar Deep Offshore blocks off Senegal.
These programs, to be performed in Australia and the UK, will cover three separate concept definition studies:
- A targeted flow assurance study to ensure robust and safe design
- An engineering assessment to demonstrate the feasibility of a riser and umbilical system at potential FPSO facilities
- A subsea flowlines study.
Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood’s Specialist Technical Solutions business, said: “We have significant operational, design and verification experience in West Africa and look forward to applying our flexible concept evaluation and design optimization solutions to support Woodside in the development of this important deepwater project.”
Cairn Energy, SNE’s current operator, said a tender process was under way with FPSO and subsea infrastructure vendors, with a redeployed FPSO viewed as the preferred development option. The partners are seeking a vessel with a production capacity of around 100,000 b/d.
The first phase of the development will focus on the lower S500 reservoirs, with up to 25 wells targeting around 240 MMbbl.
Subsequent phases, likely to follow two to four years after phase one, will target roughly 250 MMbbl in the S400 upper reservoir, with potential gas export.
Geophysical, environmental baseline and geotechnical surveys have all been completed, and work has started on project debt financing.
The exploitation plan, which will outline the full development plans and options, should be submitted later this year, coinciding with the process of transferring operator status for the development to Woodside.
Assuming government approval by the end of 2018, and the subsequent field investment decision, first oil should flow sometime between 2021 and 2023.
Evaluation continues of further exploration opportunities around the SNE discovery where there is substantial untested prospectivity, Cairn added.
This summer the company plans to spud its first operated exploration well in the UK offshore sector on the Ekland prospect.
It is also participating in the Tethys well which has reached TD, and the recently spud Raudåsen exploration well offshore Norway.
03/13/2018
