Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has awarded new drilling services contracts for its its 50 million barrel Seagull project in the UK North Sea worth a total of $40 million.
US oilfield services giant Halliburton will supply equipment from its base in Arbroath for Seagull, which is expected to come on stream by the end of 2021.
Schlumberger Oilfield UK and its M I Drilling Fluids subsidiary, both of which have a presence in the north-east, have won deals to provide various services to Neptune.
Seagull is expected to initially produce around 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day (80 per cent oil) across its 10-year design life. Proved plus probable gross reserves are estimated at 50 million boe.
Neptune Energy’s Seagull Project Manager, Shona Campbell, said: “The Seagull development is hugely important for Neptune and underlines our commitment to growing our operations in the UK North Sea. The award of the contracts is also a crucial step in the development and demonstrates the diverse range of technical expertise available from UK suppliers.
“Seagull has already been recognized as an excellent example of what can be achieved through a collaborative approach between partners and we look forward to continuing to progress with this development at pace.”
Seagull is a high pressure, high temperature development located on UK licence P1622 Block 22/29C, 17km south of the BP Operated ETAP Central Processing Facility (CPF).
Seagull will be tied back to the ETAP CPF partially utilising existing subsea infrastructure which would otherwise have been decommissioned. Gas from the development will come onshore at the CATS processing terminal at Teesside, while oil will come onshore through the Forties Pipeline System to the Kinneil Terminal, Grangemouth.
Neptune is the operator of Seagull and has a 35 per cent equity interest. Its joint venture partners are BP with 50 per cent and JAPEX with 15 per cent. Neptune acquired its 35 per cent interest in Seagull from Apache North Sea Limited in 2018.