Buzzard Phase 2 Back in View
Wednesday 2 November 2016
A company presentation on Wednesday showed that Nexen now looks likely to take forward an infill drilling campaign and subsea scheme to exploit the northern area of the prolific central North Sea field.
Delegates to trade association Oil & Gas UK’s annual Share Fair heard this “preferred” concept looks set to be taken into front-end engineering and design before the end of the year.
Tenders for the FEED work are currently being evaluated, according to a company presentation.
“We are working closely with our partner groups to secure a way forward for this project. Various options have been evaluated and recommended and the concept to be to be taken forward is an initial infill drilling campaign over the Buzzard platform followed by a subsea tie-back option,” Nexen spokesperson Lynne Bremner said during the presentation at the event in Aberdeen.
According to the presentation, Buzzard Phase 2 is currently in the concept selection stage of the operator’s project maturation process.
Nexen said the infill drilling and subsea concept still requires formal approval but, if selected, it will be further matured during the definition phase, which is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter.
Buzzard is Nexen’s highest producing asset, with output currently at about 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
It was reported in July 2015 that Nexen had gone back to the drawing board to rethink phase two of Buzzard’s development in the hope of finding a cheaper solution to the bridge-linked platform concept that had previously been under consideration.
Nexen stated at the time: “Nexen can confirm the project is undergoing further evaluation and is working with the joint-venture participant to review potential concepts to develop an optimum solution for this development.”
Buzzard is located in the Outer Moray Firth in UK blocks 19/10, 20/6, 19/5a and 20/1S, 60 kilometres north-east of Aberdeen.
The field started in production in 2007. Nexen, the operator, holds a 43.2% interest in the field, with Suncor Energy on 29.9%, Shell on 21.7% and Edinburgh Oil & Gas on 5.2%.
The existing facilities consist of a complex of four bridge-linked platforms.
In 2010, an additional processing platform to remove hydrogen sulphide and extend plateau production was installed.