TAQA revives dormant Rijn

Offshore staff

THEHAGUE, the Netherlands -- TAQA has re-started oil production from the Rijn field in the Dutch North Sea, 12 years after it was shut down.

The company says it applied recent advances in technology for this program, which involved workovers on five oil-producing wells, five water injectors, and an upgrade of the P15-C offshore facilities.

All Rijn’s produced water is now re-injected into the reservoir, with production boosted by newly installed electric submersible pumps.

Jan Willem van Hoogstraten, managing director of TAQA Energy, said: "We are proud to have successfully restarted oil production from Rijn 25 years after the first start-up in 1985 and in less than four years after acquiring the asset…The support of our partners was key in initializing the Rijn redevelopment and unlocking good quality Rijn oil reserves.”

TAQA has a 38.27% operating interest in Rijn in block P15, 40 km (24.8 mi) northwest of Rotterdam in 25 m (82 ft) water depth.

The field’s wells are connected to the P15-ACD offshore production and processing facilities. Crude oil production is exported to Rotterdam via a pipeline. Currently the field is producing around 3,500 b/d.

Partners in the project are Dyas, Oranje Nassau Energie, and Wintershall Noordzee.

11/29/2010