By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 9 -- Conoco (UK) Ltd., a unit of Conoco Inc., and its partners completed a successful test of the first development well, 44/17a-6Y, in the Caister Murdoch System III (CMS III) natural gas development in the southern sector of the UK North Sea. The well—which flowed 148 MMscfd at maximum rate—is the fist of a 6-well development scheme being drilled on the five natural gas fields comprising the CMS III development program.
The £207 million development program involves tying the cluster of discoveries—Hawksley, McAdam, Murdoch K, Boulton H, and Watt—through subsea wellheads to the existing Murdoch platform (OGJ Online, June 25, 2001).
CMS III partners are operator Conoco 59.5%, GDF Britain Ltd. 26.4%, and Tullow Exploration Ltd. 14.1%. The CMS infrastructure is 75 miles northeast of Theddlethorpe St Helen, Lincolnshire.
The well was drilled horizontally in 60 ft of water in Hawksley field using the Ensco 72 jack up exploration rig, Tullow said. The well was drilled through the reservoir and found more than 1,000 ft of net pay in the Carboniferous Westphalian formation, it said, adding, "An additional reservoir zone was encountered and the impact of this on the field reserves is being evaluated."
"Despite being large and relatively complex, (the CMS III project) is still on track to begin flowing natural gas later this year," Conoco reported. Future production from the development is expected to be 430 bscf of gas.