The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has authorized Nexen Inc. to develop Solitaire field, expected to go on production in 2015 and eventually recover 8 million bbl of oil.
Solitaire field is on Central North Sea Block 14/26a, 2.5 miles northeast of the £2 billion Golden Eagle Area Development under construction 43 miles east of Aberdeen. Solitaire’s output is to be processed at Golden Eagle.
One Solitaire subsea producing well will be connected to the Golden Eagle northern manifold via an umbilical, a production flowline, and a gas lift flowline. Detailed design engineering will begin immediately, and field installation is to begin mid-2014.
Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd. is operator of Solitaire and Golden Eagle with a 36.54% working interest in each. Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd. has 31.56%, Suncor Energy UK Ltd. 26.69%, and Edinburgh Oil and Gas Ltd. 5.21% in each development.
The project’s design, construction, and operation reflects the results of a comprehensive environmental impact assessment that has also been approved by the DECC, Nexen said.
Nexen continues to explore and appraise the UK North Sea to identify future development opportunities. In the first 9 months of 2012, the company’s UK-based business produced 215,000 b/d of oil equivalent, including 104,000 boe/d net to Nexen from Buzzard field.