Prolonged commissioning delays Kraken production ramp up

EnQuest has provided an update on its field developments in the North Sea and offshore Malaysia.

In the East Shetland basin, the company delivered first oil from Kraken on the 23^rd June 2017.

To date, the four wells from drill centre 1 (DC1) and two out of the three wells from drill centre two (DC2) have produced at initial gross rates above expectations and with stabilised flow rates.

Injection wells have also surpassed expectations. The hydraulic submersible pumps, subsea production system and turret have all performed as expected.

Commissioning of the FPSO vessel topsides equipment continues and, despite good well deliverability, has been constraining production so far. While in the third quarter 2017, volumes are behind forecast as equipment is commissioned, EnQuest expects operational uptime to improve accordingly and to deliver plateau production of about 50,000 b/d gross in the first six months of 2018.

DC3 wells are now due to be completed in the fourth quarter 2017, ahead of schedule, further facilitating the achievement of plateau performance in the first half 2018.

EnQuest says that it expects to achieve a further US$100 million of capex savings on the project as a result of the drilling of DC3 being completed three to four months earlier than planned and lower market rates for the subsea costs of DC4. Full cycle gross project capex is now estimated to be about US$2.4 billion, 25% down on the original sanctioned cost of US$3.2 billion.

In the UK northern North Sea, the ongoing Thistle/Deveron programme to improve the reliability of water injection continues to have a positive impact. Plant uptime is also improving. Well performance was particularly good at Don Southwest, with high levels of production efficiency across the Don fields.

The company says that production-improving chemical treatments are planned at both West Don and Don Southwest.

In the UK central North Sea, the work programme in the Greater Kittiwake Area (GKA) and Scolty/Crathes continues to be focused on optimising production across the assets.

The GKA fields have delivered high levels of plant uptime and production efficiency.

Production rates on Scolty/Crathes have been constrained due to wax build-up in the pipeline. Chemical treatments have been carried out which have allowed production to continue at reduced rates. Further work is ongoing to identify longer-term solutions.

Evaluation of the potential from the Eagle discovery is ongoing; Dana Petroleum has confirmed its intention to withdraw from this discovery.

At Alma/Galia, the final phase of the power and also the produced and sea water injection optimisation projects have been completed on the EnQuest Producer.

Production from Alma/Galia has been lower than last year, given shut in wells, production outages in the first quarter due to storm damage and natural declines. Discussions continue with the ESP supplier on rectification plans to address the ongoing pump reliability issues.

As for the PM8/Seligi project offshore Malaysia, the company continues to invest in low cost well work and facility projects to improve production efficiency, including gas compression train and power generation control system upgrades.

Longer term, EnQuest plans to extend field life through further investment in idle well restoration, facility improvements and upgrades, well work-overs, new drilling and secondary recovery projects to increase ultimate recovery. Technical studies to better define the next phase of these projects are progressing.

The focus of the Tanjong Baram field remains on steady, safe and low cost operations.