Alma, Galia start up nears, Kraken on track

May 15, 2015

North Sea operator EnQuest says its North Sea projects - Alma/Galia and Kraken are both on track, with the first due to start up mid-2015 and the second in 2017.

The firm is currently preparing to start pulling in risers on the EnQuest Producer floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel on the Alma/Galia development. The FPSO (pictured during its yard stay) left OGN's yard in Newcastle in Q1 this year for sea trials before being moved to its location on the Alma/Galia field. Its final ninth anchor chain was successfully installed in early May.

The preparation process for pulling in the risers has begun and Alma/Galia remains on course for first oil in mid-2015, with five wells available to come onstream. Drilling on the Galia production well is to be completed and tied in during H2 2015.

On the Kraken heavy oil field FPSO development, EnQuest will spend 2015 installing subsea hardware. Manifolds for the first drill centre are already installed, as are the two templates for the second drill centre. Installation of the mooring system for the FPSO has started.

A drilling rig is due to leave the shipyard for the Kraken field during Q2 2015, after undergoing its five year special periodic survey, to start batch top-hole drilling.

Work on the FPSO conversion in Singapore continues, with a dry docking to install the turret infrastructure now complete. Malaysia's Bumi Armada was contracted to supply and operate the vessel. Bumi is using a recently built ice-class tanker for the conversion. It will be moored by a buoy turret mooring system, connected to 16 risers.

EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu said: "EnQuest’s two major development projects continue to progress well. EnQuest is positioned to achieve substantial increases in production from both Alma/Galia and Kraken over the next two years, delivering material increases in cash flow.”

EnQuest's Production averaged 30,768 boe/d in Q1, up 20.2% on the same period in 2014. Full year 2015 production guidance is 33,000-36,000 boe/d, a 24% annual increase at the mid-point of the range.