UK firm Enterprise Oil PLC has put Cook oil field in the UK North Sea on stream.
The field is producing at 10,000 b/d, and output is expected to reach 20,000 b/d by 2001.
Start-up took place 10 weeks ahead of schedule on Apr. 21, Enterprise said.
Cook, on UK Block 21/20a, 180 km east of Aberdeen, has estimated reserves of 20 million boe of oil and 15 bcf of gas. The field was discovered in 1983, and development approval for the £59 million project was granted in May 1999.
Production is tied back to the Anasuria floating production, storage, and offloading vessel. Oil export will be via shuttle tanker, and gas export via the Fulmar pipeline to Scotland's St. Fergus gas terminal.
Operating firsts
Enterprise says Cook is the first field on the UK continental shelf to use reeled pipe-in-pipe, following successful applications off Australia and Norway.
The firm also said Cook is the first UK North Sea field for which all drill cuttings coated with oil-based mud are collected and shipped ashore for processing.
"Cook is an outstanding example of how innovative thinking can unlock value from smaller assets," said Pierre Jungels, chief executive of Enterprise. "Even at low oil prices, a small field like Cook is profitable and is a model of a cooperative partnership between infrastructure and field operator."
Enterprise operates the field. Affiliate Enterprise Oil Exploration holds 25.77%; Amerada Hess Ltd., 28.46%; British Borneo North Sea Ltd., 20%; Shell UK Ltd., 12.885%; and Esso Exploration & Production UK Ltd., 12.885%. F
