Offshore staff
In the UK Northern North Sea, Total has secured approval from the Department of Trade and Industry for its plan to develop the Forvie North gas and condensate field in block 3/15. Forvie North was discovered in mid-2002, and will be produced as a satellite to Total's Alwyn North platform, 33-km to the north, via a new high-pressure gas-condensate link. Start-up is due late this year.
At peak, the field should produce 18,600 boe. The subsea system has been designed to accommodate tie-ins of additional wells from promising exploration prospects in the area, and potentially also certain fields across the median line in Norway. This has been made possible by the recent signing of a cross-border North Sea treaty signed recently by the UK and Norwegian governments.
Total's affiliate company Elf Exploration UK is to sell its 19% interest in UK Central North Sea block 22/19a to Paladin Expro for $1.6 million. The acreage includes the Fiddich gas-condensate accumulation, discovered in 1984, where well 22/19a-1 encountered a 342-ft gas column in Triassic Skaggerak sandstones. Subject to the outcome of detailed engineering studies, Paladin is looking to develop Fiddich as a subsea tieback, possibly to its Montrose platform in the MonArb complex 20-km to the northwest. It also aims to increase its holding in the license to 52%, by acquiring the stake currently held by Nippon Oil Exploration and Production UK.
4/12/05
