Cairn progressing projects offshore Senegal, UK
Cairn Energy says that detailed planning work has started for a phased development of the SNE oil field offshore Senegal.
The foundation development concept is a standalone FPSO with subsea wells and with an expansion capability for future tiebacks. The initial development is estimated to include 25 wells targeting 240 MMbbl principally in the S500 lower reservoirs with an initial target plateau of 75,000-125,000 b/d (dependent on FPSO capacity).
The concept selection and engagement with major contractors has commenced prior to formal tendering for the FPSO and subsea infrastructure later this year, Cairn added.
Next year the partners plan to submit evaluation report and exploitation plan to the government of Senegal and start front-end engineering and design. They are targeting a final investment decision (FID) by the end of 2018, with first oil between 2021 and 2023.
ERC Equipoise Ltd estimates the 2C resource base of 563 MMbbl of oil.
The subsequent development phases will target the S400 upper reservoirs and additional areas, with current Cairn estimates of an additional well count of 40 wells, with 20 producers and 20 water injectors.
The current SNE development plans assume gas re-injection during initial development with the potential for gas export in later phases. It is estimated that the SNE field holds more than 1 tcf recoverable non associated gas and 0.3 tcf of associated gas.
In the UK central North Sea, operator Premier Oil anticipates first oil from the Catcher project by the end of the year. So far eight producers and four injectors have been drilled.
Also, the FPSO BW Catcher is mechanically complete and undergoing commissioning at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore.
In the UK northern North Sea, operator brought the Kraken project online in June. Commissioning of the first processing train and production ramp up are under way.
In the Norwegian sector, the partners are targeting FID in the first half of 2018 for the Wintershall-operated Skarfjell development.
In February, the partners announced a subsea tieback to the Engie E&P-operated Gjøa semi-submersible platform as their preferred concept.