Page 19 - EurOil Week 36

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Equinor to replace faulty wells

at Martin Linge field

NORWAY NORWAY’S Equinor has warned it will have to field holds some 70mn barrels of oil and 26.4bn
drill several more wells at its problem-stricken cubic metres of gas, according to Norway’s
The unsafe wells were Martin Linge oil and gas field, to replace some government.
drilled before Equinor unsafe ones drilled before it became the project’s
took over the project. operator. Valemon
Equinor took over Linge in 2018 from Total. Equinor also said this week it had hired a rig from
In a statement on September 8, it said that a Noble Drilling for three wells at the Valemon gas
review it had carried out showed that four gas and condensate, in production since 2015.
wells sunk by the French major at the field lacked The Noble Lloyd Noble jack-up will begin a
the necessary barriers. This makes them unsafe 230-day campaign to complete the wells next
for production. summer, at a cost of $51mn in overall day rate
The four wells will be replaced with three new fees. There will be added costs relating to inte-
boreholes, in addition to two more in the field’s grated services such as managed pressure drill-
plan for development. The work will add an extra ing, treatment of cuttings and wastewater as well
NOK2bn ($220mn) to Linge’s already overblown as running casing and tubing, rig modifications,
budget. mobilisation and demobilisation.
Linge’s development was first approved in Output at Valemon peaked at 2.85 bcm of gas
2012 and production had been due to start and 7,750 bpd of oil in 2016. But the complex
four years later. But the project fell significantly reservoir’s production has been in decline then
behind schedule, initially because of a fatal crane since, and came to only 1.55 bcm of gas and 3,100
crash at a Korean shipyard that was building its bpd of oil last year. Like Linge, it too is charac-
fixed production platform. terised by high pressure and high temperatures.
Equinor said in May that the field’s launch The contract between Noble and Equinor
had been moved again, from late 2020 until 2021. has an option for a fourth well at Valemon, and
The project’s cost, meanwhile, was estimated at 11 more at other licences. The pair also agreed a
NOK56.1bn ($6.2bn) last year, up from a mere master frame agreement.
NOK29.6bn originally. Equinor said it had picked Noble Lloyd
Equinor has a 70% interest in Linge, while Noble, the tallest jack-up in the world, after good
state-owned Petoro controls the remaining results from the rig at the Mariner heavy oilfield
equity. The high-pressure, high-temperature off the UK, which came online last year. ™

Shell starts up Fram gas field

UK PRODUCTION was launched at Shell’s Fram gas two-well subsea tieback to the nearby Shearwa-
and condensate field in the UK central North Sea ter platform and took a final investment decision
Production began in three months ago, the Anglo-Dutch major said (FID) in 2018. Shell operates Fram with a 32%
June, but Shell has not in an emailed statement to NewsBase this week. interest, while US partner ExxonMobil has 68%.
reported it until now. The field, some 221 km east of Aberdeen, was Fram is one of several new Shell projects in the
brought on stream on June 16, but Shell has not central North Sea. In October 2018 it greenlit the
reported the milestone until now. It is due to flow redevelopment of the Penguin oilfield, which will
12,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) also connect with Shearwater. It then cleared Shear-
at peak capacity, the company said. water’s redevelopment in December of that year.
Fram was first discovered 1969, but devel- Like most oil companies, Shell has adjusted
opment was not considered until decades later its North Sea plans in response to the corona-
because of a lack of infrastructure in the area. virus (COVID-19) pandemic. It has launched a
Shell got approval from UK authorities to exploit strategic review of its investments in the region,
the discovery in October 2012, hailing it at the due to be unveiled in February 2021.
time as one of the region’s most significant pro- The major has delayed taking a decision on
jects in a decade. the 800mn-barrel Cambo oilfield, where it is
The field had been expected to flow 35,000 partnered with private equity-backed Siccar
boepd from eight wells connected to a floating Point Energy. But it is proceeding with work at
production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ves- its major West of Shetlands projects, and plans
sel. But Shell axed the plan in February 2013 after to appraise North Sea gas discoveries with jun-
experiencing “unexpected well results.” ior partners Egdon Resources and Deltic Energy,
The company downsized the plan to a formerly known as Cluff Natural Resources. ™

Week 36 10•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19