LONDON�The UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) today gave the go ahead to development plans for Shell Expro�s Brigantine gas fields in the southern North Sea. Shell aims to bring Brigantine�a three-field cluster estimated to hold reserves in the region of 280 bcf of gas�into production using a pair of its low-cost �Trident� design platforms at a cost of �100 million.
The oil company expects production rates of 130 MMcfd �soon after start-up� next January from the Brigantine A, B, and C fields via four wells. Produced gas will be transported via a 19-km pipeline to the nearby Corvette platform and then on through existing infrastructure to the Shell/ExxonMobil Corp. natural gas terminal at Bacton.
Shell�s choice of the Trident platform concept for Brigantine is a lightweight (500 tonne) normally unmanned installation that can be installed using a drilling rig. Developed in-house as a marginal field development design, the Trident platform saw its first use on Shell�s southern North Sea Skiff field, which came on stream earlier this year.
Shell UK Natural Gas Director Tom Botts suggested Brigantine held a greater resonance for future North Sea offshore developments�as �another positive example if industry and government continuing to working together to advance development projects.�
�We were pleased to move forward on our Skiff development�earlier this year, and we are particularly pleased to be able to quickly follow that up with this Brigantine development,� stated Botts. �The government�s plan to lift the restrictions on the building of new gas-fired power stations encourages the development of new gas fields that will be needed to meet increasing future gas demand.�
The first platform on Brigantine is scheduled for installation next month, the second in the fourth quarter.
