Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Jan. 22 Valiant Petroleum Ltd. and Petrofac Energy Developments Ltd. plan later this year to drill several wells on Don South West and West Don oil fields in the UK North Sea under a plan for development and operation submitted to the Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform. Oil will be exported from the Northern Producer semisubmersible production vessel either by tanker offloading or by a subsea tie-back to a nearby platform in 2009.
The Northern Producer has a capacity of 55,000 b/d of oil and associated gas, water injection, and export processing facilities. Modifications will be carried out in 2008 to extend the life of the vessel, Petrofac said.
The partners will invest £360 million to drill seven wells using the Transocean John Shaw semisubmersible rig for 12 months beginning in midyear. The rig will drill two producers and two water injector wells on Don South West and two producers and a single water injector well on West Don.
Valiant Petroleum has a 40% interest in Don South West field and a 17.275% interest in West Don field. The independently audited proved and probable reserves are 55 million bbl of gross oil between the fields.
