RE: K/AK 2019 State of play 26/0330 Mar 2019 16:09
EnQuest has promised it is getting to grips with technical problems that have blighted production at the UK independent’s flagship Kraken heavy-oil development in the UK northern North Sea, limiting group output.
Chief executive Amjad Bseisu said it was a “clear operational priority” to improve the uptime and efficiency of the Kraken floating production, storage and offloading vessel, which came on stream in June 2017.
“We are working with the FPSO operator (Bumi Armada) on a number of improvement initiatives,” Bseisu said.
EnQuest expects Kraken, which has a peak production potential of about 50,000 barrels per day, to deliver gross output of between 30,000 and 35,000 bpd this year.
Officials said they expected performance to improve once maintenance, including a three-week shutdown scheduled for the third quarter, is completed.
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Bseisu told Upstream the uptime at the field in UK blocks 9/2b and 9/2c, was 63% last year compared to average production efficiency “well into the 80s” across the company’s other assets.
“We are working to increase that,” he said of Kraken’s uptime. “We are hopeful we will get into that range.”
EnQuest's North Sea managing director Bob Davenport argued it was normal for new developments to have a period of "commissioning and shakedown", but conceded it “has taken an unacceptable length of time” at Kraken.
“We have made improvements in a number of areas. We have improved our water injection rates and efficiency, our seawater filters, we have improved our power load management, our steam and heating systems, separations stability and our fuel gas availability,” he said.
Davenport said three areas have “plagued us a bit” in the first couple of months of the year — main power engine reliability, some horizontal pump seal failures and issues on rundown cooler systems.
“I am really pleased to say we have finished the work now over the last few weeks to repair and replace those systems,” he said.
“These are now back in service allowing us to go back to two-train service.”
Kraken was thrown into focus two weeks ago when project partner Cairn Energy downgraded its reserves estimate by 19% and said it was taking a $166.3 million non-cash impairment charge.
EnQuest said it has not changed its own estimates but has not revealed them.
An EnQuest investor presentation in 2013 said oil in place associated with Kraken was 421 million barrels with assumptions of a 35% recovery factor.
EnQuest chief petroleum engineer Martin Mentiply said in a presentation: “It is important to remember it is not uncommon to have differences of opinion between partners on any given field, particularly when you are at the very start of what is a very long life asset.
“Life of field reserves are substantially unchanged.”
Bseisu said: “I don’t think we have had visibility on the exact technical basis [Cairn] have had. We can only comment on our reserves.
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