Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, June 22 -- Gaz de France Britain, operator of Minke field in the southern UK North Sea, has begun gas production from a single well subsea development in the field. Minke will produce 60 MMcfd of gas, which will be transported via a 15-km pipeline to the Dutch D15 platform for delivery to Uithuizen in the Netherlands. The well produced as much as 75 MMcfd of gas on test.
GDF Britain, describing Minke's development as a technically and commercially challenging project, said the gas is being delivered from a field that is far from existing infrastructure. It is on Block 44/24a, about 180 km off Norfolk and is adjacent to the UK-Dutch median line in 45 m of water.
Faroe Petroleum (UK) Ltd., a partner in the field, has agreed to buy its equity share of gas under a traditional oil-indexed contract under a gas sales agreement with Gaz de France.
"Minke Main is one of three undeveloped gas field discoveries we acquired in mid-2006 from ConocoPhillips as a package of license interests," Faroe Petroleum said. "The other two undeveloped discoveries in the package are the adjacent Minke Graben, which may be drained through Minke Main, and the Orca gas fields, with two tested discovery wells."
Development decisions on Minke Graben and Orca are anticipated in late 2007 or early 2008.
Ownership interests in Minke field are GDF Britain 15.6%, E.On Ruhrgas UK 42.67%, RWE Dea UK 35.84%, and Faroe Petroleum 5.89%.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].
