Jeremy Beckman • London
Heerema to resume work on Buzzard
Nexen has ordered a fourth platform for its Buzzard oil field, the UK’s largest new North Sea development of recent years. Heerema Fabrication Group, one of the Phase 1 contractors, will build the 6,000-ton (5,443-metric-ton) deck and 500-ton (454-metric-ton) bridge link to the existing complex at its yard in Hartlepool, northern England. Heerema Vlissingen will construct the 3,858-ton (3,500-metric-ton) jacket and associated piles.
The completed structures, due to be installed in 2010, will form a new production sweetening platform. According to field analysts Britboss, the high levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in Buzzard’s wellstream only came to light during production drilling for the original development. The existing facilities can only process 42 ppm of H2S, but the new installation should be equipped to handle 200,000 b/d of crude with up to 500 ppm of H2S. It will also have facilities for up to three tiebacks. It is unclear, however, whether the sweetened crude will be suitable for transit through the current Buzzard export route, BP’s Forties pipeline.
TAQA takes on northern UK fields
Shell and ExxonMobil are set to exit another group of mature fields in the UK northern North Sea. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) is in exclusive negotiations with the companies for their equity interests in the North and South Cormorant, Eider, and Tern fields and production infrastructure, and the associated subsea satellites.
TAQA is negotiating to buy numerous UK North Sea facilities from Shell and ExxonMobil, including the North Cormorant platform.
The two parties have signed a Heads of Agreement, under which – subject to regulatory approval – Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) will be the initial duty holder. Eventually, TAQA intends to assume this role, with Wood Group providing integrated services.
TAQA is aiming to build a global portfolio of energy businesses. Its major entry into the North Sea started last year with the completion of deals for BP’s gas exploration and production portfolio offshore and onshore the Netherlands, and for Talisman Energy’s interests in Marathon’s Brae assets in the UK central sector.
Recently, London-based Fairfield Energy concluded its purchase of Shell and ExxonMobil’s holdings in the Dunlin Cluster and Clipper South Discovery Area in respectively the northern and southern North Sea.
Jackup in prospect for Froy redevelopment
Det norske oljeselskap has submitted a plan to redevelop the Froy field in the North Sea to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Assuming approval, this will be the first operated development for the Trondheim-based company, created earlier this year following a merger of DNO and Pertra’s Norwegian activities.
Froy lies close to the Heimdal field, around 150 km (93 mi) west of Haugesund. Elf developed the field in the 1990s, but the recovery rate was less than half the original plan. Due to low oil prices and continuing reservoir challenges, the field was shut down in 2001 and its production facilities removed.
The new scheme is aimed at extracting an additional 50 MMbbl of oil over a six-year period via a leased jackup platform. Det Norske plans to drill eight wells with a drilling rig on the platform, ensuring an active development program throughout the field’s life. Oil production should reach a plateau of 32,000 b/d, which will be stored in a tank on the seabed for offloading to shuttle tankers. Produced gas and water will be injected into the reservoir as pressure support.
The platform will also be designed to serve as a hub for other known and future discoveries nearby. Det norske operates three licenses in the area and is a partner in two more. The company aims to award the development/operation contract by end-September, leading to first production in summer 2012, although as of early April, its partner Premier Oil had yet to endorse the plan.
Newcomers boost Dutch E&P
Operators in the Dutch sector focused their efforts last year on optimizing production and maintenance, according to the latest review from the Netherlands E&P association Nogepa. Gas output from small fields stabilized at around 35 bcm (1.2 tcf), helped by changes in gas-offtake contracts, and by output from the first extended reach wells drilled by NAM from the north coast into fields beneath the Waddenzee.
Uptake of offshore exploration acreage increased from 6,250 sq km (2,413 sq mi) (end-2006) to 7,400 sq km (2,857 sq mi) by end-2007. This is an encouraging trend for a mature province, Nogepa says, particularly as newcomers now hold half the total acreage. For 2008, it has identified plans for up to 12 offshore exploration wells, and development projects involving a mono-tower and two new gas production platforms. There is also a program to re-start production from an offshore oil reservoir and to develop two small oilfields.
Among the more active new players, Canada’s Cirrus Energy has just contracted Fabricom Oil & Gas for a normally unmanned minimal facilities platform. This will likely be installed later this year on an M-block field using the jackup bargeJB 110.
Bains in line for storage role
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is working on plans for the UK’s first new offshore gas storage facility for over 25 years. The project would involve converting the Bains field in the East Irish Sea off northwest England into a seasonal storage center, one-fifth the size of the Rough complex in the southern North Sea.
The investment, thought to be $600 million-plus, would also cover installation of a new unmanned platform connected by a 20-mi (32-km) pipeline to the onshore gas reception terminal in Barrow. Bains’ reservoir characteristics are suited to injection and production.
Following pre-development studies, Centrica and its partners Gaz de France and First Oil will likely take a final decision next year.
