The North Sea’s first producing oilfield, Argyll, has finally been brought back on stream by operator EnQuest, after being started and decommissioned twice in the past by previous operators.
Argyll, now named Alma, and part of EnQuest’s Alma/Galia development, achieved "third oil" on 27 October 2015, following final commissioning of all the required systems, according to the operator.
The Argyll field, in 80m water depth, 310km from Aberdeen, first came on stream 40 years ago this year, by Hamilton Brothers’, beating BP’s Forties field to the post as the first producing oilfield in the UK North Sea.
The field’s latest development is a subsea tie back to the EnQuest Producer floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Back in August, when EnQuest said the development was due on stream “within weeks,” EnQuest said production from Alma/Galia would help boost EnQuest’s 2015 average daily production from 29,665 boe/d in 1H (up 17.3% from 1H 2014) to between 33,000-36,000 boe/d by year end.
“We are pleased to confirm first oil from Alma/Galia. A further summary will be provided in EnQuest’s next operations update," said EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu. We will continue to open up additional wells, with full production rates expected from early 2016.”
A total six production wells will be drilled on Alma/Galia, with variable speed drive ESPs, and brought onstream in a phased sequence, alongside plus two water injection wells, with peak production expected by year end. According to EnQuest, field life on Alma will be about 10 years, with 20.7 MMbbl base case recovery. Alma is 38° Api, 0.7co viscosity oil at 255°F. Galia is also 38°` Api, 0.49cp and 280°F.
Argyll was discovered in 1971, with first oil pumped by Hamilton Brothers in June 1975, onto the 35,000-ton tanker Theogennitor from the Transworld 58 semisubmersible drilling rig.
Argyll was shut-in in 1992, when it had been producing 5000 b/d, with 70% water cut, and decommissioned, having produced more than 70 MMbbl. Tuscan and Acorn renamed the field Ardmore and brought it back on stream in 2003, producing 5.2 MMbbl up to 2005. It had been able to better understand the subsurface, including the field performance, and find new development targets. But, Tuscan went bust and the field was again decommissioned.
EnQuest took over in 2011, and submitted plans to redevelop Argyll, along with Galia, from two subsea templates, using the 57,000 boe/d and 625,000 crude storage capacity, 248m-long Uisge Gorm FPSO, renamed the EnQuest Producer. EnQuest says on 30% of the field's 307 MMbbl stock tank oil initially in place has been developed and that with current technology the field's life can be extended "significantly". At the start of 2015, EnQuest's 65% interest in the field was estimated to amount to about 26 MMboe of net 2P reserves.
EnQuest’s initial first oil plan was for 2H 2013. The project has suffered delays, partly due to an increase in workscope on the FPSO, according to EnQuest in earlier statements. Work on the vessel was initially carried out at a yard in Hamburg before the vessel was moved to the OGN yard in Newcastle, England.
Image: The EnQuest Producer. Photo from EnQuest.
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