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Oil major BP has bought a 16% stake in the high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) Culzean development project in the North Sea, doubling its stake to 32%.
BP has acquired the stake from JX Nippon. Maersk Oil North Sea operates the US$4.7 billion project, which will tap around 250-300 MMboe gas condensate and could provide about 5% of the UK’s total gas consumption by 2020-21.
Culzean, discovered in 2008, is due on stream in 2019, using a new three-platform installation, consisting a 12-slot wellhead platform, central processing facility and a utilities and living quarters platform, construction on which is under way.
The reservoir, in about 90m water depth, is approximately 4300m below sea level, reaching about 348°F or 176°C, and around 13,500psi, some 240km from Aberdeen. It is not far from the Elgin, Franklin and Shearwater HPHT fields, operated by Total and Shell, respectively, in the East Central Graben area of the central North Sea.
Maersk expects first gas in 2019, and plateau production to be in the range of 300-450 MMscf/d and 25,000 b/d condensate. A steel-cutting ceremony for the first of the three topsides modules took place at the Sembcorp Marine Offshore Platforms (SMOP - formerly known as SMOE) Admiralty Yard in Singapore on 7 April.
Last week, Maersk said it was reducing its growth organization, meaning its exploration business, cutting 40 jobs, as part of a bid to cut costs by 20%, amid the low oil price. Instead, the firm said it would focus on mergers and acquisitions.
“We are pleased to have deepened our interest in Culzean and we look forward to helping Maersk make this important central North Sea development a success,” said Mark Thomas, BP Regional President North Sea Region.
“This is a challenging time for the industry and we must continue to work together to ensure that when developments like Culzean, or other projects such as BP’s Quad 204 and Clair Ridge, come online they can be run as efficiently as possible.”
BP, with its partners, is in the middle of a five-year, £7 billion investment program in the North Sea, including investment in its Clair Ridge and Quad 204 projects west of Shetland, as well as an extensive renewal program on other assets in the basin.
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