Page 19 - EurOil Week 30

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Taqa files decomm plans for two

North Sea platforms

UK THE UAE’s Taqa has filed plans with the UK ExxonMobil’s Esso. Its platform was then
government to decommission two more plat- installed in 1981 and brought on stream the fol-
Earlier the forms in the northern North Sea. lowing year. Its oil is routed to the Cormorant
company proposed The company intends to halt production Alpha platform and then pumped via the Brent
decommissioning at the North Cormorant and Tern platforms pipeline system to Sullom Voe, whereas its gas
another nearby in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to is sent via the Western Leg and the Far North
platform. plans submitted to and published by the UK’s Liquids and Associated Gas System (FLAGS)
Department for Business, Energy and Indus- pipeline to the St Fergus terminal.
trial Strategy (BEIS). The platforms’ topside Taqa’s plan gives a window of between 2024
modules will be removed and brought ashore and 2028 for the decommissioning of North
for recycling. A number of other fields tied to Cormorant’s topsides.
the platforms will also go offline at the same The Tern field was identified in 1975 and
time. began production in 1989. The window for the
The North Cormorant platform handles sup- decommissioning of its platform is between
ply from the North Cormorant, Cormorant East 2024 and 2027, under Taqa’s plan. Oil from Tern
and Otter fields. Cormorant East and Otter were is sent to North Cormorant and then takes the
expected to cease production at the end of 2023 same route to Sullom Voe, while most of its gas
anyway, so the platform’s shutdown will not leave is used to power nearby facilities and maintain
any resources stranded. Tern serves the Kestral, reservoir pressure.
Falcon and Cladhan fields, which are also due to Taqa acquire the fields from Shell and Esso in
stop producing. 2008. The company’s proposal to decommission
The main North Cormorant field was dis- the Eidar platform, also acquired from Shell and
covered in 1974 by Royal Dutch Shell and Esso, was approved in late May. ™

Spirit gives York field new lease of life

UK SPIRIT Energy, the upstream arm of Centrica, beyond the boundaries of current configurations
announced on July 29 it had added three years to extend the field life of York and maximise eco-
The investment will to the production life of the York gas field in the nomic recovery.”
cover an extra 510 southern North Sea by making a GBP13mn He estimated the southern North Sea’s overall
mcm of gas. ($16.9mn) investment. gas reserves at 3.779 trillion cubic feet.
York, situated 35 km from the North East “Examples like this provide opportunity and
Yorkshire coastline, was brought on stream in valuable activity for the UK supply chain as we
2013 and production had been expected to run actively adapt ourselves toward energy transi-
until 2020. In a statement, though, Spirit Energy tion,” he said.
said the end date had been pushed back to 2023- Spirit’s project includes platform and control
24, thanks to the York Life Extension project. system modifications, onshore tie-ins, and an
The investment, which Spirit has recently intervention at well Y1. It will involve re-routing
approved, is targeting an extra 18bn cubic feet York’s gas to the onshore Dimlington terminal
(510mn cubic metres) of gas. This adds to the 45 in Humberside, instead of the nearby Easington
bcf that the field has already yielded. terminal. Work will be phased over 2020 and
“Fields like York demonstrate the importance 2021 and consist of both onshore and offshore
of focused late-life management to maximise the activity.
potential of as many North Sea fields as possible,” Earlier this year Spirit also extended the pro-
Spirit’s director for North Sea operated assets, duction life of the Chestnut oilfield in the North
Girish Kabra, said. Sea by three years, after sinking a new develop-
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) also said ment well. That investment unlocked a further
it welcomed Spirit’s decision. Its area manager 2.5mn barrels of oil.
for the southern North Sea and East Irish Sea, Spirit Energy also operates in Norway, the
Alistair Macfarlane, commented: “The re-route Netherlands and Denmark. It recently suffered
is a good example of innovative thinking and disappointment, drilling a dry well in the Nor-
collaboration between multiple operators to look wegian Barents Sea. ™

Week 30 30•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19