Stena rig wraps up North Sea well for Tailwind

UK-based Tailwind has revealed that the Evelyn development well, located in the UK North Sea, has been drilled, completed, and tested on time and on budget, using a Stena Drilling-owned rig.

The well was managed and operated by Petrofac on behalf of Tailwind, using the Stena Don rig. As previously reported, Petrofac signed a new drilling contract with Stena Drilling in January 2021 to use the Stena Don rig for operations in the UK. At the time, the name of the operator was left undisclosed.

The contract was supposed to start between 1 July 2021 and 31 July 2021, for the drilling of one firm well. Operations were expected to have an estimated duration of 76 days.

Tailwind said on Thursday that the well successfully flowed, constrained by surface equipment, at 10,000 b/d in line with expectations. It was then left suspended in preparation for the future installation of subsea facilities and pipeline planned for 2022.

Tailwind is the 100 per cent owner of the Evelyn field and 46.42 per cent owner of the Triton FPSO. The company sanctioned the combined Evelyn Phase 1 development and Gannet E Expansion project in 1Q 2021.

The Evelyn field will be developed with a single horizontal production well, a new valve skid local to the new well, a subsea production pipeline, a gas lift pipeline and an umbilical tied back to the Triton FPSO. The field is expected to be in production, via the Triton FPSO, in 4Q 2022. Entry into the Triton production system will be via an existing riser and a newly installed (GEEBB) manifold outside of the FPSO swing-circle.

The subsea scope of Evelyn and Gannet E will be delivered as a combined project by Dana (Triton FPSO operator) with Technip as the Subsea EPIC contractor. The topsides modifications will be managed by Dana and completed during the 2022 Triton annual shutdown. The fourth Gannet E well will likely be drilled in 2023 but is yet to be sanctioned.

When it comes to the rig, the Stena Don is now preparing for operations in Morocco, which will be conducted for Chariot under a contract awarded in September 2021.