UK-North Sea-focused oil and gas firm IOG on Wednesday confirmed first gas production from the Elgood field, part of Phase 1 of its Saturn Banks Project.
"Following the confirmation of first gas at Blythe on Monday, the company yesterday also brought Elgood into production. Elgood has been developed as a subsea tie-back to the Blythe normally unmanned platform, which is controlled from Bacton terminal," IOG said Wednesday.
Phase 1 covers the production from Blythe, Elgood, and Southwark fields. Southwark's first gas is scheduled for Q3 2022,
As for the Elgood first gas, IOG said: "As previously indicated, an initial view on flow rates will be assessed once stable production has been established from both fields. The Company intends to analyze reservoir performance data over the initial months of production to inform an annual production guidance range."
Andrew Hockey, CEO of IOG, said: "I am very pleased to confirm that Blythe and Elgood fields have now both been started up, adding further new gas flow straight into the UK market. We look forward to building up through this early phase of start-up to establish stable production rates so that we can assess production guidance in due course.
Developing further UK gas resources is the right thing to do both from an environmental and energy security perspective. We are encouraged by the recent government discussions with industry and ministerial comments on supporting further investment in domestic gas supply, which is exactly what IOG stands for.”
IOG last Friday said it had struck a new gas sales agreement ("GSA") with BP Gas Marketing Limited ("BPGM"), for Saturn Banks gas.
The deal covers its equity gas from all of the Saturn Banks Phase 1 fields (Blythe, Elgood, Southwark), plus the Nailsworth and Elland fields which are part of Phase 2, in the southern North Sea, on a long-term basis with break clauses after September 2023.