DRILLING & PRODUCTION

John Waggoner • Houston

Talisman Energy outlines E&P plans

Talisman Energy has budgeted $2.9 billion for exploration and development programs in the North Sea and Southeast Asia in 2010.

The company predicts capital spending in the North Sea of $1.8 billion, of which $160 million (or some 9%) will be directed towards exploration. The plan also includes $300 million of non-cash capital expenditure (capitalized leases) in Norway.

In the UK, almost half the $800 million earmarked for development projects goes to the Auk North and Auk South satellite field developments, where first production is due in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Further outlay is planned on the Burghley development, expected onstream late this year.

Talisman is completing a well to test a northern extension of the Tweedsmuir field, and has lined up a full year of mobile exploration and development drilling elsewhere in the UK sector. It aims to re-start development drilling on the Claymore field and to begin the first phase of an upgrade to the Claymore compressors to improve field reliability.

Development planning should get under way shortly for the recent Cayley, Shaw, and Godwin discoveries, which are to be linked to an upgrade of the Montrose/Arbroath facilities.

In the Norwegian North Sea, Talisman’s immediate focus is to bring onstream the Yme redevelopment, with first oil due in the second half of this year. It also has committed to a 10-well development program for the Varg, Gyda, and Brage areas. Talisman plans to drill two exploration wells in the Norwegian sector, and will appraise its 2009 Grevling discovery.

In Southeast Asia, the company has allocated $1.1 billion in 2010, with exploration accounting for $280 million (or 26%). Work is to include a 16-well infill drilling program at PM-3 CAA off Malaysia/Vietnam, platform upgrades, and planning for the Phase II incremental oil recovery project.

Offshore Indonesia, Talisman plans to start its Makassar Strait drilling program with two wells in the Pasangkayu block, and to acquire seismic in the Andaman III block. Off Malaysia, it plans to drill a deep exploration well in the PM-3 block and to reprocess seismic over the two Sabah exploration blocks awarded in late 2009.

Elsewhere in the region, the company expects to secure approval for its oilfield developments offshore Vietnam, and to start development of the Kitan discovery offshore Australia.

Optimization measures lift BMG production

The FPSOCrystal Ocean and tanker Basker Spirit have returned to the Basker Manter Gummy (BMG) field in the Bass Strait, according to operator Roc Oil. Both were temporarily withdrawn following a maintenance and vessel survey program, during which a flare gas compressor package was installed on the Crystal Ocean.

All the work was completed in November 2009, within budget, but around two weeks behind schedule, due mainly to additional duties to comply with maintenance and statutory survey requirements.

Roc Oil adds that subsea repairs and inspections were completed successfully on the Basker-2 (B2) subsea well while BMG was offline. Basker-7 (B7) development well production tests were completed across four reservoir zones during December 2009, with a maximum individual zonal rate of around 1,000 b/d of oil.

Otherwise, optimization of production is ongoing from four wells (B2, B3, B7, and Manta-2A). Current production totals about 6,000 b/d.

At the Cliff Head oil field offshore Perth basin, Roc Oil reports that a workover to replace the electric submersible pump (ESP) at the CH-10 production well was completed in December 2009. Meanwhile, installation of a new ESP at the CH-6 production well is nearly complete. Following the overhaul at CH-10, production from Cliff Head has improved to around 5,000 b/d of oil, with further well optimization measures in progress.

Offshore China, Roc Oil says that production from the Zhao Dong field, which includes the Extended Reach Area and C-4 unitized fields, was expected to average around 18,900 b/d during the second half of 2009. In December 2009, however, Zhao Dong output was down to 9,130 b/d, partly due to well maintenance activities and repairs to a failed subsea power cable between the Zhao Dong and C-4 platforms.

Severe weather since late December also has interrupted crude oil shipments, constraining production in January.

Roc Oil expects production rates to return to around 20,000 b/d by of oil the end of January, with production for the year meeting or exceeding 2009 performance.

The company has started its 2010 drilling campaign with workovers from the C-4 platform. The program includes 19 new production wells and five injection wells. The partners also plan to install a gas pipeline and initiated gas export sales to eliminate the need for gas flaring during normal operations.

The Petrobras FPSOBW Pioneer left the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore on Jan. 8 and will be anchored for a couple of weeks to allow the project team to complete some final tests. The vessel will make the trip to Cascade-Chinook in the Gulf of Mexico where first oil is expected by August. This is the first FPSO for the US GoM with a number of advances such as the world’s largest umbilical. Seen here is a picture from the naming ceremony, courtesy of Petrobras.