First oil from two UK North Sea fields is on track to arrive sooner than expected.
Operator EnQuest and field partner MOL Group now anticipate production from their Scolty/Crathes development – targeting up to 15million barrels of oil – to start before the end of this year.
The two companies had previously forecast a date sometime during the first half of 2017.
They also expect the project, which had a price tag of £83million net to EnQuest just under a year ago, to come in under budget as they benefit from cost-savings achieved since the oil price slump.
The two fields are about 83 miles from St Fergus, Near Peterhead, in the central UK North Sea. Scolty was discovered in 2007 and Crathes four years later.
Their development received regulatory approval and was sanctioned by EnQuest in the second half of last year.
It was the only pure oil offshore project approved by the Oil and Gas Authority during 2015.
The fields will be tied back to the Kittiwake platform, in the Greater Kittiwake Area (GKA), where the fluids will be processed and the oil exported to shore via the Forties pipeline system.
Production is expected to continue until 2025, which would also extend the life of GKA itself to 2025, at an anticipated peak rate of 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day net to EnQuest.
A recent update from the operator said: “The wells are complete and ready to deliver production through the subsea infrastructure to the Kittiwake host platform.
“Construction work on the GKA platform has also progressed well, with all major units having now been installed offshore.
“A planned shutdown is currently taking place, allowing essential tie-in work to be carried out in preparation for first oil.”
EnQuest has cut production operating costs to around $25 to $27 per barrel this year, compared with more than $42 in 2014.
Scolty and Crathes are expected to deliver oil at under $15 per barrel in the initial peak volume years.
The company has also stripped hundreds of millions of pounds off the cost of developing Kraken, one of the UK North Sea’s biggest oil prospects and slated for start-up next year.
Overall costs for Kraken, 81 miles east of Shetland, are expected to come in substantially below the £4billion price tag in November 2014, when the field development plan was approved by the UK Government.
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