North Sea's Captain field begins phase two output

Dec. 27, 2000
Texaco North Sea UK Co. and the Korea Captain Co. Ltd. Wednesday began production from the second phase (Area B) of their Captain field development in Block 13/22a of the UK North Sea. The $500 million expansion will bring production from 60,000 b/d to 85,000 b/d during 2001


Texaco North Sea UK Co. and the Korea Captain Co. Ltd. Wednesday began production from the second phase (Area B) of their Captain field development in Block 13/22a of the UK North Sea.

The $500 million expansion project, completed within 25 months, will bring production from 60,000 b/d to 85,000 b/d during 2001.

John McDonald, Texaco's North Sea managing director, said Area B presented several challenges. He said long-reach horizontal wells required "innovative" drilling and completion technology and the first commercial deployment of gas-handling hydraulic submersible pumps, specially developed for the high gas content of the reservoir. Also, field design incorporated environmental performance features such as waste heat recovery and gas export.

Area B was developed subsea, using a single unitized 18-slot manifold connected via pipelines to a processing platform, which was bridge linked to the existing Captain platform. The new platform consisted of a 4,000-tonne jacket, 5,500-tonne topside, and 75-m bridge.

McDonald said, "Captain is an excellent example of incremental investment made possible by new technology deployment and subsea expertise."

Captain field, 90 miles northeast of Aberdeen, came on stream in March 1997. Texaco has 85% and Korea Captain 15%.