Premier Oil says it will begin a short subsea tie-in campaign next month at the Varadero prospect, as its Catcher project remains on track to deliver first oil later this year.
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| Image from Premier Oil |
Premier also reported average production of 82,600 boe/d for the period 1 January to 30 April of this year, a 44% increase from the prior corresponding period.
The company is maintaining its yearly production guidance of 75,000 boe/d, excluding any production from Catcher. It will update its production guidance following completion of the summer maintenance period.
“Premier’s strong operational performance continued into 2017,” says Premier Chief Executive Tony Durrant, in a 15 May operational update. “Production is above budget, the E.ON transaction has already reached payback, costs continue to be managed downwards and Catcher is on track for first oil later this year.”
Expecting an improved production profile, the company is reviewing Catcher’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel capacity. Construction work for the installation and integration of the FPSO’s topsides is finished, while the construction scope in the hull is approaching completion. So far, 10 wells have been drilled at Catcher, and a short subsea campaign is set to start in June to tie in the four recently completed Varadero wells.
Premier also has awarded all the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts for the Tolmount project, and expects to sanction Tolmount in 1H 2018. Wood Group has been awarded the offshore FEED contract, Land & Marine the FEED contract for the beach crossing, and Costain for the onshore FEED.
Late this month, Premier plans to spud the “potentially transformational” Zama exploration prospect offshore Mexico with the Ensco 8503 drilling rig. The large Zama structure is estimated to have a P90-P10 gross unrisked resource range of 100-500 MMbbl, and is classified as low risk due to a well-defined flat spot on seismic, which indicates hydrocarbons are present. Premier expects it could take up to 90 days to drill Zama and the secondary target, Zama Deep.
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