Offshore staff
GODALMING, UK – Hurricane Energy has issued more findings from its extended production test from the fractured basement Lancaster oilfield west of Shetland.
To date the test has produced more than 4.7 MMbbl, and recent pressure decline trends are said to support the estimated in-place volume of around 500 MMbbl minimum.
The two wells appear to be obtaining more pressure support with increased production, progressively ‘seeing’ more of the reservoir. Hurricane attributes this additional pressure support to connections with more distant volumes of the reservoir, and to slower feed-in from micro-fractures within the dual porosity system.
So over time the wells are accessing more volumes, but have yet to attain the stable decline rate that would allow the ultimate reservoir size to be assessed.
For the time being the company plans to continue the existing testing program on the two wells; plan ahead for the next Lancaster license commitment well in 2021; and address a decision on the next phase of the contract for the FPSO Aoka Mizu.
It had hoped to commission electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) during 2Q 2020, but COVID-19 restrictions limiting manning levels to essential personnel only have delayed this program. For the time being the pumps are not needed to maintain production levels.
As for the wells drilled last year in the nearby offshore Greater Warwick Area (GWA), these show that GWA productivity is materially less than Lancaster, as evidenced by lower drilling mud losses, lower flow rates and lower productivity indices; the fault zone characteristics are different than those in Lancaster; the GWA basement appears to have less well-developed reservoir qualities; and the Lincoln Crestal well, although produced successfully at 9,800 b/d of oil using an ESP, had a materially lower productivity index than Lancaster.
All this suggests the GWA basement has less well-developed reservoir qualities, and achieving a better understanding of the control on these properties will require further wells and data.
Nevertheless, the 2016 and 2019 well results on Lincoln provide the basis for a commercial development. Hurricane and partner Spirit Energy are therefore seeking a field determination at Lincoln for the purpose of progressing a field development, involving a single well tieback to the Aoka Mizu of either the Lincoln Crestal well or an alternative shallower producer.
04/27/2020
