Offshore staff
TRONDHEIM, Norway – OKEA has issued an update on its operated and other producing fields offshore Norway.
At Draugen in the Norwegian Sea (operated) first quarter net production rose 3% to 8,922 boe/d due to higher uptime.
This was partly offset, however, by the need to shut-in well D-2 due to a failed downhole safety valve and a general production decline. The company plans a well intervention campaign to secure continued production from D-2.
Despite reduced manning levels on the platform due to COVID-19, production levels at Draugen remain stable. The present focus is on safe and normal operation and routine maintenance.
In the North Sea, the P1 appraisal well is currently drilling but has taken longer than planned due to weather conditions and the need for an additional sidetrack to obtain better reservoir data for placement of the planned producer wells.
First oil from P1 (through the Neptune Energy-operated Gjøa platform) is expected in 1Q 2021.
At the Aker BP-operated Ivar Aasen field, production looks set to decline from the current plateau during the present quarters until the new increased oil recovery (IOR) wells are drilled and put in production.
The partners have yet to approve the IOR campaign for 2020, but the target is to main to maintain the two-well rig commitments due to the low break-even price for the increased production volumes.
At Grevling / Storskrymten (operated) licenses subsurface work and concept studies have progressed to concept selection. OKEA plans further studies for carbon capture and storage optionality for the planned jackup mobile offshore production unit during 2020.
In March, the Chrysaor-led licensees in PL973 decided to postpone two exploration wells near Grevling provisionally to early 2021.
Finally, upgrade work continues on the jackup Maersk Inspirer, which will produce oil from the Yme field in the North Sea, at Aker Solutions’ yard in Egersund.
COVID-19 has impacted availability of personnel at the yard and hence progress on the upgrades, pushing back the planned production start from Yme to year-end 2020.
However, even this timeline is uncertain due to the current health situation in addition to the inherent schedule risk of large modification projects, the company said.
04/28/2020
