Perenco aiming to restart shut-in for North Sea Blythe, Elgood wells

Perenco UK has acquired a 50% operated interest in the Blythe and Elgood gas fields in the UK southern North Sea from CalEnergy.

Both were formerly operated by IOG as part of the Saturn Banks project. The company went into receivership after failing to secure funds to address continuing technical issues impacting production.

Blythe features a normally unmanned platform with two wells, one producing about 6 MMcf/d; the other well is currently shut in.

Elgood is a single subsea well tieback to Blythe, also shut in. Both fields produced first gas in 2022 through a connection to Perenco's Bacton terminal on the Norfolk coast, via the refurbished Thames offshore pipeline.

Later this year, Perenco UK plans to connect Saturn Banks to its LAPS compressor at Bacton to increase production rates, restarting the shut-in wells, and extending the life of the fields and facilities.

The company was waiting for regulatory approvals to complete the deal.