North Sea oil and gas production set for boost

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An oil rig in the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Gary Bembridge

American energy firm ConocoPhillips is set to extend the Jade gas condensate field in the North Sea, while drilling rig design and engineering specialist RDS has been awarded a £5.8M contract to carry out front end engineering design (FEED) work on Statoil’s Johan Sverdrup development offshore from Norway.

 

The Jade field, for which ConocoPhillips is operator and holds a 32.5% stake, is located about 150 miles south of Aberdeen. Its expansion follows creation of an appraisal well drilled by the Maersk Resilient rig.

 

Its major co-venturers are BG Group and Chevron North Sea, with Eni UK and OMV UK also part of the partnership.

 

ConocoPhillips UK president David Chenier said: “This discovery adds to our company portfolio of commercial discoveries in the central North Sea and it will help to ensure continuity of production in the area.

 

“The achievement of production from this well means that another structure to the south has also now been de risked for targeting as a potential development opportunity for the future.”

 

Meanwhile RDS said its FEED work will be undertaken by its team in London through a subcontract with Aker Solutions and will involve full front end engineering of the drilling facilities throughout the Johan Sverdrup platform.

 

RDS senior vice president Simon Drew said: “We look forward to delivering a safe, efficient and cost effective solution for Statoil’s Johan Sverdrup development, whilst building a long term relationship with both Statoil and Aker Solutions.

 

“This will be the fourth major Statoil project we are currently working on from our London office. We have developed a strong relationship with Statoil through the high quality of Greenfield projects delivered in London and our strong focus on project execution from our offices in Norway.”

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