Cairn Energy is moving to further explore Senegal, and working towards first oil in the North Sea this year, in what the company calls an eventful period.
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The Kraken FPSO, from Cairn. |
“The next 12 months will be an eventful period for Cairn. We will shortly embark on further exploration and appraisal drilling in Senegal and we continue to work towards first oil and cashflow from our North Sea assets,” says Simon Thomson, Cairn chief executive. “With six successful wells drilled to date in Senegal, Cairn has established a significant and growing resource base. The 2017 drilling program aims to further define the SNE field for development and target additional exploration upside on the acreage.”
Senegal
Cairn will enter its third phase of drilling late this month, with further evaluation of the SNE discovery. Plans include the drilling of the SNE-5 and SNE-6 well with the Stena DrillMAX drillship, in the south of the SNE structure, aiming to conduct well tests to gather data from upper reservoirs.
The collected data will enable calibration of the reservoir model for upper reservoirs, critical for optimizing recovery factors by ensuring potential development wells are designed appropriately in number, placement, and orientation, the company says.
The company’s development plans foresee a range of options, including phased development to capture a potential extensive resource base. Information from the first two phases of drilling and additional seismic work continue to be integrated to build and refine the understanding of the full hydrocarbon potential of the area.
North Sea
Cairn says that the Premier Oil-operated Catcher, and EnQuest-operated Kraken developments in the UK North Sea are on track for first oil this year, with a peak of net targeted production to Cairn of about 25,000 boe/d.
According to Cairn, Kraken’s development progressed well in 2016, with first oil set for Q2 2017.
Following mechanical completion, the bulk of the commissioning activities onboard the Kraken floating production and storage offloading (FPSO) unit completed in the Far East. The FPSO is currently in Rotterdam for inspection and certification.
The drilling program made excellent progress in 2016 and drilling continues throughout 2017. The results from the producer and injector wells that were drilled and completed, met or exceeded pre-drill predictions with four producer and five water injectors completed, says Cairn. In addition, the subsea installation program was completed with all three drill centers fully connected to submerged turret production buoys for hook-up to the FPSO and last mooring pile and wire/chains installed.
At Catcher, start-up and first oil is slated for 2H 2017, with the sailaway of the FPSO from Singapore expected around mid-year. Cairn says that the project’s total capex is now forecasted to be US$1.6 billion, about $600 million lower than lower than the original sanctioned estimate.
In all, eight development wells have been completed, in which all have come in at or better than prognosis in terms of reservoir quality and deliverability. “Due to strong well results and well placement optimization, the well count has reduced to 20 wells, capturing further savings,” says Cairn.
Last year, the JV completed the installation of all of the subsea equipment. Its focus now lies on the final mechanical completion and the pre-commissioning work scopes.
As for Skarfjell, operator Wintershall is working towards the concept selection for field development, with its decision expected in Q1 2017.
“Cairn is fully-funded in respect of all of our capital commitments and we continue to actively assess and pursue new ventures within the context of a balanced portfolio,” says Thomson.
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