OFFSHORE EUROPE
Jeremy Beckman, London
Poland, Denmark plot gas link
Poland and Denmark have agreed to implement the Baltic Pipe project, connecting the two countries with a proposed Scandinavian gas grid. The main parties involved are Polish Oil and Gas Co (PGNiG) and Energinet.dk, both in charge of their countries’ respective gas transmission networks.
PGNiG tooks steps earlier this year to cut its reliance on gas imports from Russia, through buying ExxonMobil’s 15% stake in the future Skarv and Snadd field developments in the Norwegian Sea. According to field analysts ScanBoss, this equates to around 5.3 bcm.
Recently, PGNiG was also admitted to the Gassco-operated consortium, which includes Energinet.dk, for the planned Skanled system. This would take gas through a new overland line from western Norway to Gothenburg on Sweden’s coast, with an offshore spur from there to northern Denmark. The Baltic Pipe would form the network’s eastern extension.
PGNiG is considering financing the Baltic Pipe independently, giving it ownership of the line. Energinet.dk is also monitoring progress of the planned Nord Stream project, linking Germany with Russian gas via another new line across the Baltic Sea. If connected to the Baltic Pipe, this could provide a supply route in both directions, following the model of the Interconnector trunkline between the UK and Belgium.
Among gas developments elsewhere, Perenco has acquired ExxonMobil’s shares in Superior Oil UK, bringing it majority stakes in several producing fields in the UK southern North Sea. These include Excalibur, Galahad, Guinevere, and Mordred, along with a 10% stake in the Bacton gas reception terminal in eastern England.
In The Netherlands, the government is expected to approve Cirrus Energy’s application for a production license in the Dutch North Sea, which includes the M1-A field. Calgary-based Cirrus is looking to contract the jackupNoble Lynda Bossler for re-entry and completion of both the M1-A and M7-A development wells during summer 2008. Development approval would be contingent on gaining access to third-party gas infrastructure.
UK may extend frontier licensing
Britain’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is considering opening new areas west of Scotland to exploration and production. It is conducting a strategic environmental assessment for this region (SEA 7), which would extend from the Mull of Kintyre in the far southwest of Scotland to the Wyville-Thomson Ridge, west of Shetland. The consultation period concerning the potential environmental impact is due to close on June 27.
The SEA 7 area comprises 1,600 blocks, some of which were first offered for licensing in 1971. Most, however, have never been available: only eight blocks in the area are currently licensed, with 93 previously licenses long since relinquished.
The DTI does not expect blocks west of longitude 14 deg west to be either offered or solicited, as there is no international agreement yet concerning this far-western boundary of the UK shelf. It also lies beyond the range of normal search and rescue helicopter services.
Talisman taps into Tweedsmuir
Production has started at Tweedsmuir, one of the UK’s larger-scale new subsea projects. The field was discovered in 1983, but lay fallow until new operator Talisman Energy resumed appraisal drilling in 2002. A year later, the company also discovered Tweedsmuir South.
Both structures have been tied back to Talisman’s Piper B platform 34 mi (54.7-km) to the north, via four subsea wells - in each case, there is a combination of a horizontal producer and a deviated water injector, with potential to add more wells in future. Once topside modifications have been completed at the platform this September, throughput will climb to 51,000 boe/d, with the processed oil heading to the Flotta terminal on Orkney Island.
Talisman is also close to starting up two trans-median line UK-Norway subsea developments, Enoch and Blane - the former to BP Norge’s Ula platform, the latter to Marathon’s Brae A. And Talisman’s Beatrice platform in the Moray Firth may handle third-party oil production next year from Ithaca Energy’s recent Basil discovery. That well was drilled as a potential extension of Beatrice. Ithaca estimates recoverable oil at around 5 MMbbl.
Since early May, Beatrice has been powered by an 85-m (279-ft) high, 5 MW offshore wind turbine, with a second turbine set to be installed this summer. Talisman’s joint venture partner in this project, known as DOWNViND, is Scottish and Southern Energy. The UK government and the European Community are co-sponsors.
Statfjord gas link in place
Saipem’s laybargeCastoro Sei has completed the new Tampen Link pipeline taking gas from the Statfjord field to the UK North Sea. The 23-km (14.3-mi), 32-in. (81-cm) line ties into the Flags trunkline system that extends from Shells’ Brent field to the St Fergus terminal in eastern Scotland. It should be ready for service in October.
This work forms one component of the Statfjord late life project, designed to extend production from the field through 2020. Under a NOK 16 billion ($2.65 billion) program, Statoil and its partners are converting the field’s three platforms from their present function of processing oil with associated gas to handling gas with associated oil. If successful, Statoil hopes to recover a further 32 bcm of gas, 25 MMbbl of oil, and 60 MMbbl of condensate.
The company is also looking to wring more out of its smaller fields, which it says provide 17% of its oil and gas production. An example is Glitne, which came onstream in 2001 with four wells tied back to thePetrojarl 1 production ship. The original prognosis was a two-year life span, with 25 MMbbl recoverable. Thanks to subsequent improvements in reservoir analysis, technology advances, and higher oil prices, Statoil is set to put in a seventh development well this summer and expects to recover closer to 50 MMbbl by the new tail-end date of 2009.