Offshore staff
CALGARY, Canada – Ithaca Energy has conducted a test on the second Stella field development well in the UK central North Sea.
Well 30/6a-A2Z (A2) was drilled to a total MD subsea of 14,455 ft (4,406 m), with a 3,123-ft (952-m) horizontal reservoir section completed in the Palaeocene Andrew sandstone reservoir within the field’s oil rim.
The clean-up flow test was designed to remove drilling fluids and to gain additional reservoir data and fluid samples. Flow reached 10,442 boe/d. The rate was constrained by the capacity of the well test equipment on theENSCO 100 jackup.
Following completion of the well suspension operations the rig will transfer 3 km (1.8 mi) to drill Stella’s third and fourth development wells.
As for the Greater Stella Area (GSA) subsea facilities, the manifolds and riser bases, the 60-km (37-mi) gas export pipeline and the infield flowlines and umbilicals have all been installed and associated diver tie-in works completed.
Focus of this year’s campaign will be on tie in of the wells, installation of the dynamic flexible risers and umbilicals connecting the riser bases to thefloating production platformFPF-1, the mooring spread, and the oil export equipment.
Technip is managing thesubsea program under an EPIC contract.
Ithaca now expects production from GSA to start at the end of this year. The schedule has been set back by works needed to install new oil and gas processing plant on the platform.
At present, activity centers on the main deck and construction of the pre-assembled processing plant units for lifting on to the platform during 1Q 2014.
All main long-lead process items are at the Remontowa yard in Poland. Petrofac is handling theFPF-1 modifications under a lump-sum incentivized contract.
01/08/2014
