Dana studies development options for Rinnes area
Uchenna Izundu
OGJ International Editor
LONDON, Feb. 25 -- Dana Petroleum PLC has begun development options for the Rinnes area in the UK northern North Sea after discovering its third oil field.
The company is considering tie-back options to nearby existing infrastructure as well as a stand-alone development via a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel. Its Hudson oil field, is 4 km away, and Melville oil field lies 1 km away.
Tom Cross, Dana's chief executive, said the discovery had exceeded the company's expectations. This development could lead "to a substantial new oil development in this part of the North Sea."
Dana drilled a well at the South East Rinnes structure on Block 210/24a that reached a TVD of 6,546 ft and targeted the Lower Brent reservoir sequence in a separate, untested structure between Melville and East Rinnes oil fields.
"The South East Rinnes well found excellent quality sands, as predicted, within the Lower Brent sequence with a full oil column throughout the Brent reservoir and no oil-water contact," said Dana.
An oil column of over 400 ft of true vertical thickness in southeast Rinnes field was found in a sidetrack downdip to the north. This explored the structure on a deeper level for the oil-water contact and reached a TVD of 8,040 ft. The sidetrack well, 210/24a-12z, encountered the Lower Brent reservoir sequence.
Dana said a comprehensive set of electric wireline logs was also acquired in the sidetrack well, including pressure data and oil samples.
The company has sufficient data for the discovery and will not drill stem test in South East Rinnes oil field because of its similarities in crude quality to nearby West Rinnes, East Rinnes, and Melville. It is also of quality similar to the crude oil already being produced by Dana at nearby Hudson oil field. Dana said West Rinnes flowed at an equipment-restricted rate of 7,800 b/d.
Dana has completed exploration drilling on the shallower South West Rinnes structure. This was a more speculative target, some 5-km to the southwest of 210/24a-12. The South West Rinnes well, 210/24a-13, was drilled to a TMD of 5,095 ft and struck a Brent reservoir, which Dana described as being of excellent quality, even though it was water-bearing.
The company will remap West Rinnes, East Rinnes, South East Rinnes, and Melville oil fields to determine the total volumes of oil discovered in this area. It estimates that the Rinnes-Melville-Hudson area contains 55-100 million bbl of oil reserves yet to be produced, with a current most likely (P50) estimate of 80 million bbl of oil.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].