Canadian oil firm CNR International is to invest about £45million upgrading its North Sea Tiffany platform in order to unlock millions of barrels of oil.
The work, to include reactivating a drilling rig on the central North Sea platform, was agreed with the help of a brownfield allowance – one of a number of oil field tax breaks unveiled by the UK Government last year.
Its introduction followed the Government’s damaging 2010 Budget which saw a £10billion tax grab on the industry resulting in a drop in investment.
CNR International, which was one of the firms to reduce investment following the 2010 Budget, said it now planned to drill two new production wells and a new injection well from Tiffany in a bid to access three million extra barrels of oil and extend the life of what is called the T-Block.
This would involve reactivating the drilling rig on Tiffany as well as improving other facilities on the platform, which could pave the way for further future investment, including on the nearby subsea Toni and Thelma fields.
CNR International, which bought Tiffany, 160 miles north-east of Aberdeen, in 2004, said: “It is projected that the total incremental investment attributed to this approval will be in the region of £45million, and will deliver incremental reserves in excess of three million barrels as well as extending the life of the T-Block complex.”
James Edens, managing director of CNR International, said: “We anticipate filing at least four more applications for brownfield allowance in the North Sea this year.
“These approvals will facilitate securing incremental investment in the North Sea, adding activity and delivering asset life extension, as well as the organic growth anticipated in our life-of-field plans.”
CNR International, part of Calgary-headquartered CNR, is managed out of Aberdeen where it set up in 2002 and now employs about 400 staff and contractors.
It operates six installations in the UK sector of the North Sea and four further offshore producing fields offshore Africa.
