Offshore staff
LONDON – The FPSO for Premier Oil’s Catcher project in the UK central North Sea is at deepwater anchorage offshore Singapore, undergoing final pre-sail commissioning.
All 112 crew members are on board, and theKeppel Shipyard-built vessel should depart soon for the UK.
At the offshore field location, theEnsco 100 has completed the last of the 12 wells scheduled for completion pre-first oil, the B12 injector at the Burgman field. The rig will soon transfer to the Catcher field to drill the next batch of four production wells.
Currently four wells have been completed on each of Catcher, Varadero, and Burgman (eight producers and four injectors), and 10 of the wells have been tied-in, with the final two Burgman tie-ins due to follow ahead of first oil later this year.
Net pay from tests of the eight producers has been 30% above forecast, with the anticipated initial production delivery rate of each well on average 40% higher than predicted.
Premier now forecasts peak production of around 60,000 boe/d, 20% above the figure estimated at the time of project sanction.
In the southern UK gas basin, tendering will start shortly for the platform, pipeline and drilling rig for Premier’sTolmount field development, and the company expects the project to be sanctioned during the first half of 2018.
In addition, the company has signed a heads of terms for an infrastructure partnership under which Dana Petroleum and CATS Management (an Antin Infrastructure Partners subsidiary) will jointly construct and own the Tolmount platform and export pipeline as a standalone development, as well as performing onshore modifications at the Dimlington terminal on the English east coast.
A tariff will be paid for transportation of produced gas through the infrastructure over the life of the field. Premier will maintain its 50% equity in the license, and the company estimates its share of capex at around $100 million.
Subsurface studies continue on the Tolmount East and Tolmount Far East structures ahead of potential future appraisal drilling.
West of Shetland, output from the company’sSolan field remains lower than expected due to poor reservoir performance in the eastern part of the field, although the operating efficiency of the Solan platform continues to exceed 90%.
Premier’s team is monitoring production behavior to better delineate recovery from the existing wells and is evaluating options to improve production levels and recovery. These include stepping up water injection into the reservoir and further drilling in 2019.
At the Total-operated Elgin-Franklin area, the satelliteGlenelg field (Premier 18.57%) has also been impacted by downhole scaling in the single well, which may require an intervention to rectify next year.
Finally, the company has reached agreement with a third party to sell its 33.8% interest in theWytch Farm oil field offshore and onshore Dorset in southwest England for $200 million.
08/24/2017
