EnQuest set for control of North Sea Bentley oil field
Offshore staff
LONDON – EnQuest has signed an agreement to acquire Whalsay Energy Holdings’ 100% interest in the P1078 license in the UK northern North Sea.
The concession contains the Bentley heavy oil discovery, thought to hold 900 MMbbl in-place.
Bentley is close to EnQuest’s operated Kraken and Bressay heavy oil fields, and offers potential long-term development synergies, the company said.
On completion of the transaction, which is subject to approval from Britain’s Oil and Gas Authority granting an extension of the license term beyond the current expiry date of June 30, EnQuest will fund certain historic costs and will make deferred payments to Whalsay based on future revenues generated by the acquired subsidiary, capped at $40 million.
Bentley is in 113 m (371 ft) water depth, 15 km (9.3 mi) east of the producing Kraken field and 8 km (4.97 mi) southeast of the undeveloped Bressay.
It was discovered in 1977 and has been appraised through drilling and testing of six further wells and two side tracks, including extended well tests in 2012, with an average of around 2,600 b/d over a 68-day test period.
Whalsay had been working since mid-2017 on an updated, phased development plan, which had been independently verified as technically sound, with a cost to first oil of $729 million.
It involved a 20-well slot platform with 17 dual lateral ESP producers and three produced water re-injection wells, with conventional topsides fluid handling facilities processing the crude to export specification.
The platform was to be connected to an FSO, with the oil exported in 500,000-bbl parcel sizes via a shuttle tanker.
04/26/2021
