UK-based oil firm Bridge Petroleum has appointed well-engineering company Fraser Well Management (FWM) to operate the suspended appraisal well in the Galapagos field in the Northern North Sea.
The Galapagos field is the former un-depleted North West Hutton Field which, including its southern accumulation is thought to contain around 700 million barrels of hydrocarbons. Bridge plans to redevelop the Galapagos field in phases.
FWM, which launched its turnkey well operatorship division earlier this year, explained that the Galapagos well was a suspended standalone subsea appraisal oil well located at a depth of 500ft in block 211/27 of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), 130km north-east of the Shetland Islands. Drilled in 2012, it was suspended by the previous license holder in 2013.
As part of the transfer, FWM is responsible for the periodic well status checks, maintenance of records, and well integrity reporting to the regulators, Bridge, and other stakeholders.
Nick Ford, FWM managing director, said: “Adding Bridge to our well operator client base clearly demonstrates the success of our outsourced well operator model. The well operator and well-engineering contract with Bridge is a great step forward in widening and developing our client base. With Bridge’s long-term view of the UKCS, and with FWM to support their aims, we look forward to a successful future working relationship.”
Bridge’s Galapagos asset manager Matt Mulcahy said: “Transferring the Galapagos well operatorship will enable us to focus our resources on developing our highly promising Galapagos field, as well as pursuing other exciting opportunities on the UKCS. FWM have shown themselves to be professional in the way in which they conduct themselves, and are straightforward in how they work, giving us confidence that our wells are in capable hands.”
"The Galapagos well has been fully integrated into FWM’s well integrity management system, including the transfer of data and compliance verification to the UK regulatory requirements. With the well operatorship contract in place, Bridge also have access to other FWM services and support, including engineering, asset integrity and commercial disciplines for the drilling, intervention or decommissioning of assets, Bridge said.
The Galapagos well contract is FWM’s third new contract in less than six months since the launch of the firm’s new well operatorship division.
The company in August won a contract with NEO Energy, a North Sea-focused oil and gas company, to operate the Victoria well, a shut-in gas condensate well located off the Lincolnshire coast in the southern North Sea.