Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has begun production on the Sable field offshore South Africa and brought three of four producing wells on stream with production rising toward 35,000 to 40,000 b/d. Total production from the three wells has reached 22,000 b/d and is expected to continue to rise, and the fourth well is expected to be brought on within a few days.
The oil is being processed on a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel and will be transported to shore via shuttle tanker. First oil sales are anticipated in September or October.
Pioneer holds a 40% working interest in the field and is the first foreign company to produce oil in South Africa.
PetroSA, the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corp. of South Africa, operates the field with a 60% working interest.
Pioneer also announced a discovery on its Tomahawk prospect in the Falcon corridor in the East Breaks area of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Tomahawk is the second satellite discovery Pioneer is developing as a subsea tie-back to its Falcon field. First satellite discovery Harrier is being completed with first production expected in early 2004. Following the Harrier completion, Pioneer plans to drill Raptor in the Falcon corridor.
To accommodate Falcon corridor satellite production, an additional parallel pipeline connecting the Falcon field to the Falcon Nest platform on the Gulf of Mexico shelf is being added to the Falcon facilities, doubling the capacity to 400 MMcf/d of gas. Pioneer expects combined gas production from Falcon and Harrier to reach 275 MMcf/d, leaving excess pipeline capacity to tie-in additional satellites such as Tomahawk and Raptor.
Pioneer operates the Falcon subsea system and the Falcon corridor fields with a 100% working interest.
In the Adam field in Tunisia, Pioneer participated in a successful development well, Adam 2. The 2002 discovery well, Adam 1, is producing 3,800 b/d from one zone. Pioneer holds a 28% working interest in the Adam concession and plans to drill an exploration well on the Hawa prospect in the same concession later this year.
08/18/03