Partners in the Kyle oil field development have announced first oil from the field. In March, the UK Department of Trade and Industry gave permission for Petroleum Geo-Services ASA to conduct a 130-day, 1.7 million bbl limited test on Well 29/2c-12z. The well began producing 19,000 b/d of oil to PGS's Petrojarl-1 floating production, storage, and offloading vessel on May 24. Output is expected to average 13,000 b/d. The vessel is working at Kyle under an early production contract for operator Ranger Oil Ltd., Calgary, after a brief dry-docking for repairs. The Kyle field is the ninth consecutive field on which the Petrojarl I has been deployed over the last 14 years. Following the test, the vessel will undergo a standard 5-year class survey and a life extension upgrade. Ranger Oil holds 40% of Kyle; Premier Pict Petroleum Ltd., 35%; Bow Valley Energy Ltd. and Roc Oil UK Ltd., 11.25% each; and Croft Exploration Ltd., 2.5%.
Canadian Imperial Venture Corp., St. John�s, Newf., says its first well on Port au Port Peninsula on the West Coast of Newfoundland began test production of crude oil. Port au Port 1, drilled earlier this year, began flowing May 28, and oil is being trucked to a refinery at Come by Chance, Newf. Canadian Imperial Vice-Pres. Kirby Mercer said the production is a controlled test to gather data from the well to plan further exploration and development. Canadian Imperial acquired a farmout in Permit 93-102 last year from Hunt Overseas Operating Co. and PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. The permit covers most of the Port au Port Peninsula. Hunt and PanCanadian reported an oil discovery in 1995 but did not pursue commercial development.
Racal NCS Inc., Houston, has completed a contract with Horizon Offshore Inc. providing positioning equipment to support a platform installation off Ecuador. Under the terms of the contract, Racal mobilized positioning equipment onboard the Pacific Horizon derrick barge to support the installation of Platform A in Amistad field. The Pearl Horizon, a support four-point anchor vessel, assisted with towing the material barge and traveled from Port Arthur, Tex., to Ecuador, using a Racal-operated seamless navigation package.
