Neptune Energy and partners agree to Seagull field development

Neptune Energy and its partners have decided to go ahead with development of the Seagull oil and gas field in the UK North Sea.

The final investment decision (FID) on the project, which is located off the coast of Aberdeen, enables the partners to proceed with plans to commence production by the end of 2021.

Neptune is the operator of the field with a 35% equity interest. It acquired its stake in the Seagull project from Apache North Sea in 2018. The remaining stake is held by the company’s joint venture (JV) partners, BP (50%) and Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) (15%).

With an estimated lifespan of ten years, Seagull is expected to initially produce around 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). The field has proved and probable gross reserves of 50 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe).

The partners submitted the Field Development Plan (FDP) for Seagull to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) for approval. Subject to the receipt of the approval, Neptune will begin project execution works.

Neptune Energy CEO Jim House said: “Seagull is a low cost, near-term development in close proximity to existing infrastructure. It complements our existing assets in the North Sea and provides growth and greater diversity for our UK business.”

The field is located in the Central North Sea on UK licence P1622 Block 22/29C, 17km south of the BP-operated ETAP central processing facility (CPF). As part of the development plan, the partners will tie back the Seagull field to the ETAP CPF partially using existing subsea infrastructure.

Gas from the project will be processed at the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) onshore processing terminal at Teesside in the North East of England. Meanwhile, oil from the Seagull development will be transported through the Forties Pipeline System to the Kinneil Terminal in Grangemouth.

Oil & Gas UK Upstream Policy director Mike Tholen said: “Neptune’s Seagull project signals the basin’s first FID of 2019 and demonstrates a growing appetite among North Sea players to establish a diversified portfolio making the most of the variety of opportunities the basin offers.

“The UK Continental Shelf continues to reinforce its position as an attractive investment opportunity. Fresh investment in the basin is key if we are to maximise the estimated 10-20 billion barrels of oil remaining, in line with Vision 2035.

Source: Offshore-Technology