EnQuest: Kraken oil production reaches 40.000 barrels a day

The EnQuest-operated Kraken development in the UK North Sea has been producing “above expectations” with production reaching 40,000 bopd in late in November.

First oil from Kraken, a large heavy oil accumulation in the East Shetland basin, west of the North Viking Graben, was delivered on June 23, 2017.

EnQuest said in its operational update on Thursday that the four wells from drill center 1 (DC1) and three wells from drill center two (DC2) produced at initial gross rates above expectations and had stabilized flow rates which confirm the field development plan.

The company added that the sum of DC1 maximum individually tested well rates had been around 24,000 bopd, with stabilized combined well rates at approximately 15,000 bopd.

One DC2 well was tested at a rate of well above 10,000 bopd which, according to EnQuest, demonstrated excellent reservoir properties with water injection wells also performing in line with expectations.

EnQuest continues to expect production at Kraken to reach 50,000 bopd gross during H1 2018

“Kraken is achieving month on month increases in production, and by early November average production rates were around 23,000 bopd gross. The second production processing train was brought onstream later in November, with rates of over 40,000 bopd gross being achieved,” the company said.

Also, the second and third cargo offloads were completed in October and November with the latest sale of a cargo contracted at a discount to Brent of less than $5 per barrel. A level of pricing which the company achieved “earlier than targeted.”

As for the production wells, the oil company said in its operational update that the final DC2 production well had been brought online and that the drilling of the DC3 wells was nearing completion ahead of time.

“The process of bringing the DC3 wells onstream has commenced early and plans to drill DC4 in 2018 are being developed. On the basis of this strong performance and subject to continued progress on plant uptime, EnQuest continues to expect production at Kraken to reach 50,000 bopd gross during H1 2018,” the company added.

According to EnQuest, the Kraken project capex is estimated to be $2.4 billion, some 25 percent down on the original sanctioned cost of $3.2 billion. The latest $100 million savings on the project resulted from the delivery of the DC3 drilling program and lower market rates for the remaining subsea campaign.

EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu said: “We are making good progress in delivering the ramp-up of Kraken, with average Kraken production increasing each month. We have now achieved production rates of over 40,000 bopd gross with DC3 wells online earlier than planned.”

Offshore Energy Today Staff