US oil major Chevron is moving ahead with plans for an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project using polymer technology on its Captain heavy oil field in the UK North Sea.
The Captain field was discovered in 1977, in Block 13/22a on the edge of the outer Moray Firth. The billion-barrel field achieved first production in March 1997 – 20 years ago this year – thanks to developments in horizontal drilling and down-hole pumps.
Stage 1 of the EOR project, which follows several EOR pilot programs at Captain, will see the drilling of up to six long-reach horizontal injection wells.
Since 2010, Chevron has been trialing polymer EOR on its Captain heavy oil field. Earlier this year, the firm started its fourth pilot project on the field to further refine its polymer EOR plans for Captain.
Norway's Statoil has also been putting the technology to test on its Heidrun field, with plans for further pilots on other fields in coming years.
Meanwhile both of these firms, along with BP and Shell, which have been considering use of polymer EOR on the Quad 204 project, have been taking part in an industry Task Force on EOR, which today, under the Oil and Gas Authority, published Polymer Enhanced Oil Recovery - Industry Lessons Learned. Find the document here.
The Captain facilities comprise a wellhead protector platform and bridge linked platform connected to a floating production, storage and pffloading vessel.
For many years, the field has been under waterflood, which means a lot of effort is put into water production and treatment (some 300,000 b/d of water are produced). However, there is still a lot of bypassed oil, because of the way waterflood results in a “coning” effect in the reservoir.
Chevron Upstream Europe managing director Greta Lydecker said: “Sanctioning Stage 1 EOR at Captain is an important milestone in the development of the technology, which we believe will improve the recovery rate from older fields and help extend the life of assets.”
Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) Area Manager Eric Marston said: “Polymer EOR has the potential to increase recovery, extend field life and stimulate field redevelopments. Chevron, along with BP, Shell and Statoil, has been a driving force behind the industry-led EOR task force. I commend their openness in sharing their lessons learned with the wider industry and their contribution to the OGA’s ‘Polymer Enhanced Oil Recovery – Industry Lessons Learned’ publication which will be published shortly.”
CNSL holds 85% and is the operator of the Captain field, Dana Petroleum (E&P) holds 15%.
Read more:
Elaine Maslin surveys some of the heavy oil field developments in the UK Continental Shelf, plus some of the technology aimed at unlocking it.
Offshore enhanced oil recovery pilots by Chevron and Statoil in the North Sea are paving the way towards helping to get more heavy oil out of the ground. Elaine Maslin reports.
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