IOG hires Petrofac for well management job in North Sea

Petrofac’s Engineering & Production Services business (EPS) has secured a well management contract for Phase 1 of Independent Oil and Gas’ (IOG) Core Project located off the UK.

IOG’s Core Project Phase 1 was approved by UK authorities a month ago.

Phase 1 comprises the development and production of the Southwark, Blythe and Elgood fields in the UK Southern North Sea (SNS) through a total of five wells, with gas transported onshore via the Thames Pipeline.

A week later, Subsea 7 was awarded a SURF contract by IOG for the UK North Sea development.

In an update on Monday, Petrofac said it will support IOG’s development of the Southwark, Blythe and Elgood fields.

The five-well contract scope covers the planning, execution, and closeout phases of the Phase 1 drilling programme.

Petrofac is intended to act as Well Operator on behalf of IOG.

Extensive work has already been undertaken so far this year between the IOG and Petrofac teams under a letter of limited commitment to ensure all preparations for the 2021-22 Phase 1 drilling campaign proceed to plan.

The planning phase includes detailed well design, risk assessment, and management of well-related regulatory requirements.

During the execution phase, Petrofac will manage well engineering, procurement and logistics, assure well construction and integrity, and provide onshore and offshore personnel to support the drilling campaign.

Nick Shorten, Managing Director for Petrofac Engineering and Production Services West, said: “Through the deployment of our extensive asset and well management expertise, we will work closely with IOG to assure the integrity of the wells and deliver a safe and cost-efficient drilling programme to support the advancement of their development”.

Andrew Hockey, CEO of IOG, commented: “Petrofac has demonstrated that they have the right credentials and expertise to execute what will be a critical role in helping IOG to deliver a safe, productive and cost-effective five-well Phase 1 drilling campaign kicking off in the first half of next year.

“The IOG drilling and subsurface teams have already established a strong working relationship with the Petrofac team in recent months and this will deepen further as Phase 1 drilling preparations ramp up“.