By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 27 -- Maersk Oil Qatar Co. and state-owned Qatar Petroleum agreed to more fully develop Al Shaheen field on Block 5 in the Persian Gulf, boosting production gradually to 525,000 b/d by late 2009 from 240,000 b/d in the first quarter of 2006.
The $5 billion 2005 field development plan calls for drilling more than 160 producing and water injection wells in 6 years, clustering 19 production and accommodation platforms in three new locations, laying subsea pipelines, and adding facilities to gather associated gas. Work is to start immediately.
The companies plan to continue developing the field using state-of-the-art horizontal wells. Previous such wells in the field have set world records for length, rate of penetration, and other drilling parameters.
Al Shaheen field went on production in 1994 from temporary facilities. Permanent structures were added in 1998. The companies last expanded the field in 2004.
Previous outlays at Al Shaheen, which underlies the northern part of supergiant North gas-condensate field 110 miles north of Doha, are about $2 billion.