UK fractured basement player Hurricane Energy has agreed in principal deal for a floating production and storage offloading (FPSO) unit to develop its Lancaster field and is set to drill its nearby Halifax prospect, west of Shetland, UK.
Under a heads of terms agreement, the Aoka Mizu FPSO, to be supplied by Bluewater Energy Services, will be used as an early production system on a first phase of development on the field. A contract is expected to be agreed ahead of Hurricane's expected sanction date for Lancaster, mid-2017.
Hurricane's CEO Robert Trice said: "Hurricane is delighted to have entered into an FPSO agreement for the Lancaster EPS. This will allow us to maintain our desired first oil date of H1 2019 and further demonstrate the potential of fractured basement reservoirs in the UK.
As our current drilling campaign continues to assess the full regional potential of our acreage, this Agreement is another important milestone in our efforts to move Lancaster towards production, creating value for our shareholders and for the UK."
Hurricane is currently drilling the Lincoln prospect, which could tie-in to the Lancaster development, using the Transocean Spitsbergen semisubmersible drilling rig. Hurricane's next prospect, announced this morning, is in a nearby license which the firm was awarded just earlier this month.
Hurricane will use the Transocean Spitsbergen on Halifax, after exercising an option for an additional well using the rig.
Halifax is in license P2308 license, which is contiguous to, and extends north east from, Hurricane’s existing Lancaster license.
The company believes that if mobile oil can be demonstrated outside of local structural closure at Halifax, then the Lancaster field could extend further north east along the Rona Ridge.
A previous well (205/23-2) drilled on the Halifax structure encountered oil and gas shows in sandstones immediately above the basement. In addition, Hurricane’s analysis of basement cuttings from the 205/23-2 well indicates the presence of oil thus mitigating the oil charge risk to Halifax.
The Aoka Mizu is the seventh Bluewater designed, built, owned FPSO. It has been deployed at the Ettrick and Blackbird fields for Nexen Petroleum UK since August 2009.
Last year, Nexen confirmed plans to start decommissioning the Ettrick and the nearby Blackbird fields in the Outer Moray Firth, 75 miles northeast of Aberdeen, with work starting this year. Since its removal from the field, the FPSO has been at the Remontowa yard in Poland.
Read more
Subscribe
