Page 11 - Euroil Week 37 2019

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil
Equinor starts up offshore gas field
NORWAY
The field straddles the boundary between the UK and Norwegian continental shelves.
NORWAY’S Equinor has succeeded in launch- ing its Utgard gas and condensate project below budget and ahead of schedule.
Equinor brought the field on stream on Sep- tember 16, ahead its planned launch at the end of the year. It also managed to complete devel- opment at NOK900mn ($101mn) below the projected cost of NOK3.5bn.
Utgard is located in waters 115 metres deep in the central North Sea, straddling the border between the Norwegian and UK continental shelves. It was discovered in 1982, although development plans were not approved until 2017.
Equinor and its partners aim to recover 40mn barrels of oil equivalent from the site, producing at a plateau rate of 43,000 boe/day. The project comprises a two-well template tied back to the Sleipner field. Operations will be controlled remotely from the Sleipner platform.
Utgard’s gas will be transported to mar- kets through Norway’s offshore pipeline grid, while liquids will be piped to the onshore Kar- sto hub for export to Europe. It will also make us of CO2 purification and storage facilities at Sleipner.
“By reusing the existing infrastructure, we can, with relatively low investments, realise smaller discoveries that would not
otherwise have been profitable enough to develop,” Equinor’s vice president for develop- ment and production in Norway, Arne Sigve Nylund, said in a statement. “At the same time, we are adding valuable volumes to Sleipner.”
Norway’s 62% interest in Utgard is divided between Equinor with 38.4%, Poland’s Lotos with 17.4% and Kuwait Petroleum with 6.2%. Equinor also controls the 38% UK share.
Equinor also reported on September 17 making a new gas find in the Norwegian Sea. Recoverable resources at the site are assessed at 50-80mn boe.
The Orn exploration well was drilled south- west of the Marulk field to a vertical depth of 4,147 metres, in waters 332 metres deep. It is the first probe to be completed at licence 942, where Equinor serves as operator with a 40% stake. Its partners are Aker BP (30%) and Norway’s Wellesley (30%).
“This is good news. The Orn discovery proves that there are still opportunities on the Norwegian continental shelf and reconfirms the Norwegian Sea’s importance to our domes- tic activity,” Equinor’s senior vice president for Norway and the UK, Nick Ashton, commented.
The discovery is located near to existing pipe- lines and fields, strengthening the case for devel- opment. ™
CNOOC updates on work off UK, Ireland
UK
CNOOC is a dominant player in the UK’s offshore zone.
CHINA’S CNOOC International has spudded its Howick wildcat well on the UK Atlantic mar- gin, the company representative told FSU OGM, after suffering a setback off the coast of Ireland.
The Island Innovator semi-submersible, owned by Norway’s Island Drilling, started work on the well on August 31, the spokesman said, adding that “operations are ongoing.”
Howick is a Cretaceous prospect within block 206/21, where waters are around 675 metres deep. CNOOC is targeting oil, with its well expected to take 49 days to complete.
CNOOC has emerged as one of the leading players in UK waters, accounting for 25%of national oil production. It is also one of the coun- try’s more active drillers at present.
Also within the Atlantic margin, the Chinese state firm has deployed Texas-based Diamond Offshore Drilling’s Ocean Great White semisub- mersible to sink an appraisal well at its Cragg- anmore gas discovery. Cragganmore was found within block 208/17 by former operator Dong
Energy six years ago.
Meanwhile in the central North Sea, CNOOC
recently extended a contract with Denmark’s Maersk Drilling for the use of a jack-up at its Buzzard phase-two project.
Spending on the North Sea continues to rise, but largely because of creeping operat- ing costs rather than increased investment. CNOOC gave the sector a welcome boost at the start of this year when it announced its Glengorm discovery. Believed to be the largest gas find off the UK’s coast in a decade, Glen- gorm is estimated by CNOOC’s French partner Total to hold 250mn barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable reserves.
CNOOC’s prospects look less firm off the west coast of Ireland, where its subsidiary CNOOC Petroleum Europe came up dry in late August, the representative said. The Chinese firm has plugged and abandoned its Iolar pros- pect well at licence FEL18 within the Porcupine basin, the person said.™
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