Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Jan. 23 -- Dumbarton oil field has come on production in the UK Central North Sea, operator Maersk Oil & Gas said Jan. 23. The project is the second major UK North Sea development to come on stream within the month, following the Buzzard oil field, operated by Nexxen Petroleum (OGJ, Jan. 8, 2007, Newsletter).
Maersk Oil developed Dumbarton using 5 horizontal producers and 1 deviated produced water injection well, which have been tied back to the GP3 floating production, storage, and offloading vessel. Altogether this infrastructure drilled over 90,600 ft.
Maersk Oil said it spent $197.6 million refurbishing the GP3 FPSO vessel, refitting the topsides, and making other modifications to accommodate Dumbarton oil, which is much lighter and has a higher gas content than Leadon oil.
The Dumbarton project is a redevelopment of abandoned Donan Palaeocene field originally operated by BP PLC and partners during 1993-97. They used the Seillean Single Well Oil Production System vessel, and the field produced 15 million bbl of oil until it was abandoned in 1998.
Maersk Oil holds 70% of Dumbarton, and Noble Energy Inc. holds 30%.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].
