Page 18 - EurOil Week 50 2020

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Snorre redevelopment sees first oil

NORWAY NORWAY’S Equinor has kicked off production Equinor said.
at the Snorre expansion project in the North Sea The recovery factor at Snorre has been
Equinor and its partners ahead of schedule, the company announced on raised from 46% to 51%. Some 24 new wells
are looking to recover December 12. will be drilled to recover the oil at six subsea
195mn barrels of Production at Snorre began in 1992 and templates. Bundles connecting the new wells to
remaining oil. reached its peak in 2003 of over 234,000 barrels the platform have also been installed, in addi-
per day. Since then it has undergone significant tion to new risers. The project also comprises
decline, averaging only 52,000 bpd last year. a new module and modifications at the Snorre
Equinor and its partners filed a plan to rede- A unit.
velop the field in late 2017, estimating its remain- The project arrives ahead of schedule despite
ing recoverable oil at the time at 195mn barrels. some disruptions caused by the coronavirus
It got an all-clear from authorities to launch the (COVID-19) pandemic and ensuing restrictions
project in November. earlier this year.
“I am proud that we have managed to achieve “This is a result of excellent teamwork, both
safe start-up of the Snorre expansion project internally with our own employees and safety
ahead of schedule in such a challenging year delegates, and with our suppliers and partners,”
as 2020,” Equinor’s vice-president for tech- Tungesvik said. “In a very unusual year many
nology, projects and drilling, Geir Tungesvik, have gone to great lengths, been constructive
commented. and solution-orientated to ensure that the pro-
The project, with an overall investment cost ject was delivered.”
of NOK19.5bn ($2.2bn), was also completed at Equinor operates Snorre with a 33.3% inter-
NOK1bn below the original estimate in the plan est, while Norway’s Petoro has 30%, Eni unit Var
of development. For this sum, the project “is Energi has 18.6%, Japan’s Idemitsu Petroleum
profitable even at far lower oil prices than today,” 9.6% and Germany’s Wintershall Dea 8.6%. ™

Latest West Newton well

exceeds pre-drill hopes

UK LONDON-LISTED investor Reabold Resources areal extent by discovering the Kirkham Abbey.”
announced last week that another well at its West Reabold is “confident that it will be the largest
Reabold is confident Newton discovery in Yorkshire had “exceeded onshore UK discovery since 1973,” the compa-
it has made the UK’s pre-drill expectations”, suggesting the field could ny’s other CEO, Sachin Oza, said. That was the
biggest onshore find be the UK’s biggest onshore find since 1973. year when the Wytch Farm field in Dorset was
since 1973. The B-IZ well found a gross 62-metre hydro- discovered. Operated by Perenco, Wytch Farm
carbon-bearing reservoir interval in the primary is still considered the largest onshore oilfield in
Kirkham Abbey target, with a hydrocarbon col- Western Europe today.
umn estimated to be at least 118 metres. The “With more analysis to be done, we believe
well was sunk 2.5 km south of the West Newton that these indications augur extremely well for
A-1 and A-2 wells, Reabold said, with the results the future of the West Newton project, which has
indicating “a particularly extensive accumula- the potential to be a meaningful and crucially
tion with good reservoir continuity.” local source of hydrocarbons for the Humber
Reabold has a 56% position at West Newton, region,” Oza continued.
through a 59% interest in project operator Rath- An extensive number of technical studies
lin and a further 16.7% stake it has directly in the still need to be done to analyse the well data,
development. Union Jack Oil also has a 16.7% and this will affect the scheduling of a test-
shareholding. The discovery was made in 2013 ing programme, Union Jack chairman David
and was initially thought to be gas only, although Bramhill added.
subsequent exploration revealed it to contain oil “The preliminary results from this well vin-
as well. dicate Union Jack’s faith and financial commit-
“We are delighted to be able to announce ment over the past two years to what Union Jack’s
another significant discovery at the West Newton management has always believed to be an excep-
field,” Reabold co-CEO Stephen Williams com- tional UK onshore hydrocarbon enterprise,” he
mented. “The B-1Z well has indicated substantial said. ™

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 50 17•December•2020