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BP Starts Up Offshore Seth Field Adding 170Mn CFD To Egyptian Gas Output
BP on 23 June started production at its Seth gas field on the Ras el Bar concession in the Mediterranean 60km offshore the Nile Delta. Phase 1 production from two initial wells will hit 170mn cfd, with production rising to 250mn cfd with the start of Phase 2 production at the end of 2012 (2.6 bcm/year, equivalent to over 3% of Egypt�s gas production). Phase 2 involves two further wells targeting the eastern part of the field. BP says it has accelerated Phase 2 development following the successful fast-tracking of Phase 1, with Seth coming on-stream only 18 months after project sanction, and almost four months ahead of schedule.
BP has 50% and is overall operator of Ras el Bar, although construction and operation of the Seth project have been assigned to Petrobel, a joint venture grouping state-owned firm Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Eni. The Italian firm has the other 50% of Ras el Bar. The $334mn Seth field development involved construction of a production platform in 80ms of water, two production wells and an 11km pipeline tying in production to the Denise field on the neighboring Eni-operated El Temsah concession. From here production is tied back using an existing pipeline to the onshore processing facility in El Gamil near Port Said, which handles around 20% of Egyptian gas production.
Upgrading work at El Gamil was completed in 2011 with the completion of new compression capacity. In addition to the Seth start up this was necessitated by a 30% hike in El Temsah production to around 11bcm for 2011 with the start-up of production at the Denise B field which in turn followed 2010�s start-up of 1.6 bcm/y of production at concession�s Tuna field. The El Gamil plant processes production from the North Port Said concession as well as El Temsah and Ras el Bar.
Eni expects net production of 60mn cfd from Seth (35% of output), with the same going to BP. Ras el Bar � which also includes the Ha'py, Akhan and Taurt fields � accounted for over 8% of Egyptian gas production even before the latest start-up. The concession produced around 500mn cfd (5.2 bcm) in 2011, up 25% on 2010, out of total Egyptian 63 bcm/y �commercial� gas production (ie after reinjection). Egypt is hoping to raise gas production by around 10% to 69 bcm/y by early 2013 with the ramp-up of production at Ras el Bar forming a key part of this together with the start-up of Phase 8b of BG�s West Delta Deep Marine.
BP�s Offshore Nile Delta E&P
Source
: BP. © Copyright MEES 2012.
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