Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) has submitted a field development plan (FDP), in draft format, for the Blythe gas field to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
The Blythe field, 100% owned and operated by IOG, is in the southern North Sea close to existing infrastructure and other IOG-owned licenses and is set to be central to a hub for IOG.
It contains 34.3 Bcf 2P reserves, (6.1 MMboe) and needs no further appraisal, says IOG. First gas is expected in 2H 2018, subject to completion of the development funding.
"Submission of the draft FDP is a key milestone for the company as it gears up its capabilities for the field development," says IOG. "Reaching this milestone by the end of 2016 was also a requirement of the recent license extension.
"Blythe is particularly important to the company because it is expected to produce first revenues from its current portfolio of assets. Furthermore, the planned gas hub around Blythe is expected to include the nearby Elgood discovery as a tie-back to the same infrastructure. IOG is in exclusive talks to secure the main export route for all of its southern North Sea fields, including the 100%-owned and operated Vulcan Satellite fields.
Mark Routh, CEO of IOG commented: “Blythe is at the heart of our first gas hub and is therefore of great strategic value to us. We continue to work hard to maximize the gas that can be commercially developed from our core Southern North Sea area, including the Blythe and Vulcan Satellites hubs. We are working with some well-established parties on the financing of these hubs and are pleased with progress to date.”