Neptune kicks off final drilling campaign on Fenja field

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has started final drilling operations on four production wells on the Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea.

Neptune Energy started its Fenja drilling campaign, following the spud of the first well in April 2020. The licence partners opted to carry out drilling in three phases over a period of two years. The drilling programme for 2020 included two top holes and two geo-pilots, with an expected duration of 85 days.

Neptune and its partners confirmed on Tuesday that the final drilling campaign had started on the Fenja field. It will include four production wells. These wells will be drilled by the Deepsea Yantai, which is a semi-submersible rig, operated by Odfjell Drilling.

Neptune received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) to use the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible rig for these operations in September this year.

The Fenja development consists of two subsea templates tied back to the Njord A platform via a production pipeline, water and gas injection pipelines and an umbilical. The field is operated by Neptune and the wells are planned as two oil producers, one water injector and a gas injector.

Neptune explains that the gas injector will be converted to a gas producer towards the end of field life. Neptune holds a 30 per cent interest in the Fenja field, while Vår Energi has 45 per cent. Suncor Energy holds 17.5 per cent interest in the field and DNO the remaining 7.5 per cent.

Erik Oppedal, Neptune Energy’s Director of Projects & Engineering in Norway, explained: “This is the final phase of the Fenja development project which is located in a strategically important growth area for the business, with a number of other interesting prospects nearby. Norway is an important part of Neptune’s geographically diverse portfolio and this is an excellent example of the company’s commitment to investing in the region.”

The semi-submersible rig will drill into the reservoir sections, install the lower completions and execute well clean-up activities, while t drilling work is estimated to take approximately 160 days. The Fenja development is scheduled to come online in the first half of 2023. It is expected to produce approximately 28,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at the plateau.

In August 2021, Neptune confirmed the safe and successful installation and testing of the electrically trace-heated (ETH) pipe-in-pipe solution was carried out.

It will transport oil from the Fenja field to the Njord A platform, and it is the world’s longest ETH subsea production pipeline.

Located around 36 kilometres southwest of the Equinor-operated Njord A platform set to receive the Fenja fluids, the Fenja oil and gas field is situated at a water depth of 325 metres. Neptune holds a 22.5 per cent interest in Njord A, which is located 120 kilometres north of Kristiansund.