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Elgin Franklin, le laboratoire offshore de Total :

(Reuters)

Conditions extrêmes, équipements mis à rude épreuve et production proche du déclin : la plate-forme d'Elgin Franklin, opérée par Total en mer du Nord, illustre les défis posés par des ressources pétrolières et gazières toujours plus rares et difficiles d'accès.

A 240 kilomètres au large de la ville écossaise d'Aberdeen, "capitale européenne du pétrole", cette vaste cité de plus de 33.000 tonnes, enchevêtrement improbable de tuyaux et de métal perché à 22 mètres au-dessus des vagues, exploite quatre champs localisés jusqu'à près de 6 km sous terre et 90 mètres d'eau.

Elgin Franklin constitue à la fois une vitrine et un laboratoire pour le groupe pétrolier français car sa zone de production présente des conditions extrêmes de température (190° C) et de pression - 1.100 bars contre 300 en moyenne en mer du Nord.

Pour reprendre une expression utilisée il y a quelques années par un responsable de Total, le forage des premiers puits était comparable au percement d'un "trou dans une cocotte-minute placée au centre d'un four solaire".

"Elgin a toujours été une plate-forme de nouvelles technologies, de nouveaux développements, à la frontière de ce qui a été fait", a souligné Iain Park, responsable de la production, lors d'une visite du site organisée pour la presse le 29 mai.

Entrée en service en 2001, la plateforme produit actuellement l'équivalent de 220.000 barils par jour environ - la moitié en brut et l'autre en gaz -, soit environ 7% de la production du Royaume-Uni.

Mais ce niveau devrait commencer à baisser à partir de la mi-2010 et Total doit poursuivre ses efforts d'adaptation, d'exploration et d'innovation afin d'extraire jusqu'au dernier baril exploitable dans le secteur.

UN MILLION DE LIVRES LA CHAMBRE

Total, comme ses concurrents, tente d'adapter au mieux ses équipements existants alors qu'il doit dans le même temps investir dans des zones plus incertaines et que les coûts de construction ont été dopés ces dernières années par la hausse des prix du brut.

"Les coûts de développement d'Elgin-Franklin se sont élevés à 1,7 milliard de livres (2,3 milliards d'euros à l'époque, NDLR) mais cela coûterait probablement trois fois plus cher aujourd'hui", a souligné vendredi Thierry Bourgeois, directeur des opérations de Total E&P UK.

Dans le cadre de ses futures campagnes d'exploration et de forage, le groupe contrôle l'entretien des installations rongées par la rouille et la construction de nouveaux équipements, dont une quarantaine de chambres qui s'ajouteront aux 97 lits que la plate-forme compte aujourd'hui et coûteront chacune un million de livres (1,16 million d'euros).

Les bâtiments d'habitation évoquent à la fois le bateau de croisière et l'hôtel bon marché mais offrent avant tout un refuge indispensable au vacarme qui règne sur la plate-forme, entre les bruits des compresseurs et les allées et venues des hélicoptères.

Les chambres, d'une dizaine de mètre carrés, sont équipées d'un coin douche et toilettes et le plus souvent partagées par deux personnes. La plate-forme comporte également une salle de gymnastique, des tables de billard ou encore un restaurant.

LE CO2 POUR AMELIORER LES RENDEMENTS

Entre les employés en charge de l'entretien et des nouvelles constructions et ceux qui participent au forage d'un 17e puits d'extraction - dont la mise en production est prévue pour la fin 2009 - Elgin Franklin accueille actuellement près de 500 personnes, contre une centaine habituellement nécessaires à son fonctionnement.

La fin de l'exploitation du site était auparavant prévue pour 2022 mais la mise en exploitation de deux nouveaux champs "satellites" et l'accroissement des réserves de la zone ont permis à Total de prolonger la durée de vie des installations jusqu'en 2025-2026, ainsi que le plateau de production.

Elgin Franklin se distingue aussi par ses capacités de traitement du gaz et du pétrole sur site, avec deux plates-formes puits reliées à une plate-forme commune de traitement et d'export qui comprend une mini-raffinerie équipée pour produire directement un gaz aux spécifications commerciales.

Total envisage en outre d'injecter du dioxyde de carbone dans les réservoirs situés autour d'Elgin Franklin afin de faciliter la récupération du gaz et du pétrole, un projet qui pourrait aboutir en 2016, selon Thierry Bourgeois.

Boursorama

North Sea oil exploration suffering as banks refuse to lend

Recession may push North Sea oil and gas production into a much steeper decline than previously forecast due to the difficulties faced by smaller oil companies in getting finance to pay for exploration and oilfield development.

Industry leaders warned in Aberdeen yesterday at a media briefing that up to a quarter of the 20 billion barrels of oil known to be still recoverable from the North Sea may stay in the ground because of the contraction in the lending capacity of the banks and other financial institutions.

They added that this and uncertainties around future government tax policies towards the offshore industry could cost the government up to £250 billion in lost tax revenues.

...............
But he had recently met directors of much smaller firms, including a start-up business with highly promising technology, who were unable to get finance and faced a tough time.

This is an acute problem in the North Sea which, as a mature oil province where production levels have been falling since 1999, is now much more dependent on smaller independent oil companies who are moving in as the big major oil firms are moving out.
.........

Positive news for North Sea oil

BBC Positive news from two North Sea oil fields has been announced at the Offshore Europe exhibition in Aberdeen.

ExxonMobil is to step up activity in the Beryl field in the northern North Sea.

The move is expected to increase the workforce by more than 80 people, as the company and its partners invest about $200m in the project.

Meanwhile, Taqa has announced two new oil finds in blocks it recently bought from Shell near the Tern oilfield.

The finds are on a small-scale, with the larger one at an estimated 25 million barrels. Drilling of no more than four wells is planned for next summer.

Abu Dhabi-owned energy company Taqa has expanded rapidly in the North Sea over the past three years.

The firm was founded four years ago as a vehicle for Abu Dhabi to invest its oil wealth in energy projects worldwide.

energy_isere a écrit : Je sais pas si sur les plate forme ca va étre fété, en tous cas c' est en 2009 que va étre passé le 10 miliardiéme baril extrait depuis le début des champs pétrolier de la mer du Nord.
(BPreport dit beaucoup plus).

Raminagrobis a écrit :

energy_isere a écrit : Je sais pas si sur les plate forme ca va étre fété, en tous cas c' est en 2009 que va étre passé le 10 miliardiéme baril extrait depuis le début des champs pétrolier de la mer du Nord.
(BPreport dit beaucoup plus).

Heu non la production cumulée est bien supérieure à ca.
en sommant les années sur bp stat report, le royaume uni et la norvège on respectivement sorti 25 et 23 milliards de barrils.

Cette année ça pourrait être le 50 milliardième ?

Decommissioning the North Sea

With many of the North Sea oil and gas fields now into their mature phase, making provision for the eventual decommissioning of offshore installations has assumed increasing importance for well operators.

Over the next two decades, billions of pounds will be spent removing infrastructure that has reached the end of its useful working life – something which the operators themselves have been fully aware of for some time.

In 2000, a study by the economic analysts Wood Mackenzie put the expected bill in excess of £11bn, estimating that around half of the North Sea's 600 installations would be scheduled for decommissioning by 2021.

..............

Statoil Strikes Oil and Gas North of Norne

Statoil discovered oil and gas in the 6608/10-14 S well on the Fossekall prospect in PL 128. Drilled by Diamond Offshore's Ocean Vanguard semisub, the well reached a total vertical depth of 9,019 feet (2,749 meters), ending in the Are formation in the lower Jurassic. The proved recoverable resources are provisionally estimated at 37 and 63 MMbbl, and associated and free gas is estimated at 1 to 3 billion standard cubic meters. Statoil and partners are considering tying the discovery back to existing Norne infrastructures. Oil production from Norne is processed and stored aboard a floating production vessel, with gas output piped to the Norwegian mainland via the Norne and Asgard pipelines. The Fossekall prospect lies in 1,155 feet (352 meters) of water in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, which is operated by Statoil, holding a 63.95% interest.

Statoil Strikes Oil in North Sea

August 19, 2010 Rigzone

Oil and gas estimated at between three and 19 million barrels of oil equivalent have been found by Statoil roughly three kilometers east of the Gudrun field in the North Sea.

The find was made in the Brynhild prospect where one exploration well was drilled with one technical sidetrack.

"The Brynhild find is a valuable addition to the field development project on the Gudrun field, although it's no secret that the size of the discovery didn't quite meet the expectations we had beforehand," said Tom Dreyer, vice president for infrastructure led exploration in the North Sea.

The well struck oil in an 18-meter column of good reservoir quality in the Draupne formation. In addition, the well encountered a gas and oil column totaling 35 meters of variable reservoir quality in the Hugin formation.

The discovery will be assessed in connection with other oil and gas resources in the vicinity, and a tie-back to Gudrun will be considered
........

Major new oil find in North Sea

27 Aug 2010

A major discovery of oil has been made in the North Sea, adding to optimism about the longevity of the UK’s seasoned oilfields.

German firm Wintershall yesterday said the discovery, estimated at 60 to 100 million barrels, was made at its Blakeney well 150 miles east of Aberdeen.

The discovery is sizeable in terms of recent finds, which typically come in at around 25 million barrels for wells in a sector where production is now into its fifth decade.

Wintershall, the oil arm of German chemicals group BASF, said the discovery would help it achieve a target to raise oil and gas output levels by a factor of 12 in five years.

Martin Bachmann, a member of Wintershall’s board responsible for exploration and production, said he was upbeat about oil prospects in the region.

“We see a lot of life in the North Sea,” he said.

“The oil majors are dropping their investments and are off to drill in Brazil, but we think there is still a lot of potential in the region.”

The size of oil and gas discoveries in the North Sea has been dropping in recent years, although bumper finds are occasionally made such as the June discovery in the Catcher field, where up to 300 million barrels are estimated to lie and in which Wintershall has a 20% stake.

In July, Wintershall made one of the most significant finds off Norway so far this year at Maria, with estimated volumes of 250-520 million barrels of oil.

Mr Bachmann said the German oil firm had made five oil discoveries in one year and would focus on developing those finds in the coming years.

“The focus for the next few years is more exploration, but we will also focus on developing the finds we have so far made,” he said.

“Current production off Norway and the northern part of the British North Sea is 4000 barrels a day. We are aiming for 50,000 barrels a day by 2015.

“We see our total investments at about eight billion Norwegian crowns (£850m) over the next four to five years. Previously we were in the tens of millions.”

Exploration in 2011 will continue at about the same level as in 2010, he said, with some 17 to 18 exploration wells drilled off Norway and Scotland.

Last month, industry body Oil & Gas UK said it predicted a rebound in investment and drilling activity in the North Sea with the energy industry leading the UK’s drive out of recession.

UK Oil & Gas calculates that with 39.5 billion barrels of oil having been extracted from the UK continental shelf over 40 years, between 15 and 24 billion remain.

However, the credit crunch two years ago hit the industry sharply as companies struggled to obtain finance for exploration. In 2009 the number of development wells operating in the UK dropped by 24% to 130.

However, drilling activity is already in line with last year and is predicted to match or exceed 2009’s total.

Some 10 new oil and gas fields started production in 2009 on the UK continental shelf.

Virtually all UK production comes from offshore where there are 390 fields, with 290 platforms. The UK is the world’s 15th largest gas producer and 19th largest oil producer, currently producing enough to meet 94% of UK oil demand and 68% of gas needs.

Meanwhile, British oil giant BP has abandoned plans to drill off the coast of Greenland, amid suggestions the Gulf of Mexico spill could be a factor in its decision.