By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Nov. 15 -- The UK government has approved development of the second phase of the JUNO network of gas fields in the southern sector of the North Sea.
The partners in the project, BG Group PLC, BP PLC, and Amerada Hess Corp., will now proceed with a $400 million investment to accelerate production from a group of dormant small fields.
The JUNO fields lie in the UK Southern North Sea off Humberside in a region known as the Easington Catchment Area (ECA). The fields, discovered in the mid-1970s, are estimated to contain more than 400 bcf of recoverable reserves.
The project is made possible by investment that allows the use of existing infrastructure and the unlocking of capacity in the existing BP export system in the area. During the next 12 months, the project should underpin 1,200 jobs in the UK oil and gas industry.
First gas, which will be exported via BP's Cleeton-Dimlington infrastructure, is expected to flow in the fourth quarter of 2002. Gas production rates during 2003 are expected to peak at 300 MMcfd.
The fields to be developed are the BG-operated Apollo and Minerva and the BP-operated Whittle and Wollaston. BG operates a fifth development field, Artemis, which will be integrated into the JUNO project pending successful appraisal in the first quarter of 2002.
Drilling is expected to start on the Minerva and Whittle hubs before the end of the year. The platform and pipelines should be installed in the summer of 2002.
The JUNO fields lie in quadrants 42 and 47 of the UK Southern North Sea. On Apollo, Artemis, and Minerva BG is the operator and holds a 65% interest in each with Amerada Hess holding the remaining 35% in each. On Whittle and Wollaston, BP is the operator with 33.73%, BG has 30.77%, and Amerada Hess 35.5%.
The Minerva hub facilities will consist of subsea production systems on Apollo and Artemis and a normally unmanned installation at Minerva. The Apollo subsea wells will be tied back via a manifold and pipeline to the Minerva platform. If successful, the Artemis appraisal well will be tied back via a separate pipeline to the Minerva platform.
Produced fluids from all three fields will be mixed on the Minerva platform, and the combined flow exported via a new 16-in. pipeline to the BG-operated ECA riser tower bridge linked to the Cleeton platforms, where the gas will be separated, dried, and metered before transmission into the BP Cleeton-Dimlington pipeline system.
Wollaston and Whittle fields will be developed via subsea wells and flowlines tied back via a manifold and a new 12-in. pipeline to the ECA riser tower, where they will be mixed with the Minerva hub fluids.
A comprehensive environmental statement covering the JUNO fields has been approved, following the production of a full environmental impact assessment and consultation involving all interested parties over the summer.
The engineering design for the Cleeton platforms and Dimlington terminal modifications are being completed by AMEC Ltd. in its Aberdeen offices. The contract for pipeline materials has been awarded to Dalmine SPA.
During November, full contracts are expected to be awarded for subsea controls, topside controls, umbilicals, and the Minerva platform. The pipelines and subsea award is anticipated at the same time, and will cover detailed engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and testing of all JUNO pipelines and subsea systems.