Perenco UK has completed a velocity string installations campaign on five wells at the West Sole Charlie platform in the southern North Sea, 70 km offshore the company’s Dimlington terminal on the Yorkshire coast.
The program, operated from the Petrodec HAEVA rig, has brought production gains of about +5 MMscf/d, which is in line with management’s expectations.
There have been improved production rates in each of the wells, which have been running with 100% uptime. Two of the restarted wells were previously shut-in and not producing.
As a result, overall output from the West Sole Field is now above 30 MMcf/d.
West Sole, which was the first UK offshore gas field to be developed, has produced more than 2.2 Tcf since 1967. However, the original completions with 5½-inch tubings were no longer practical in the now partially depleted reservoir.
According to Perenco, recompletion using velocity strings is a proven technology in fields no longer producing at their original high gas rates. Inserting velocity strings of narrower diameter helps to increase fluid velocities, sustaining production at lower pressures and enabling extension of field life.
The company had applied the technique successfully in 2020 at its nearby Hyde Field. It is now assessing application in other UK fields in the gas basin such as Apollo.
West Sole “remains a significant production hub in the SNS [southern North Sea] offshore gas network, with potential for future development and tie-in of nearby gas discoveries," Perenco UK SNS managing director Jo White said. “Through renewal and application of new technology, a sustainable and productive future remains possible for decades to come for the West Sole Field.”
