A new report on Reabold Resources’ northern North Sea resources illustrates potential development plans – including FPSO redeployments and tiebacks to the Dunbar and Ninian platforms.
Reabold (AIM:RBD) last week announced the publication of a new competent person’s report (CPR) prepared by RPS Group on four of its northern North Sea licences.
The report covers P2464, P2504 and P2605, in which Reabold has a 100% working interest, and licence P2478 (Dunrobin), in which Reabold has a 36% working interest alongside Baron Oil (32%) and Upland Resources (32%).
It outlined mean estimate aggregate of unrisked net prospective oil resources at 148.5 million barrels and mean unrisked net prospective gas resources of 211.6 bcf (around 36.5 million barrels of oil equivalent) across the four areas.
Oulton
Within the analysis is a closer examination of P2504, containing the Oulton Discovery and two prospects at Oulton West Jurassic and Oulton West Eocene.
Oulton was originally a single well oil discovery made by Amoco in 1974, with RPS now estimating 2C gross resources of 11 million barrels.
Prior to the licence acquisition by Reabold, Corallian had sought partners to drill a well at Oulton West in 2019.
In the wake of its deal last year Reabold co-CEO Sachin Oza talked of the firm’s optimism around the “de-risked contingent resources associated with Oulton, which we believe, can be progressed in a low-cost manner given, inter alia, the low spending commitments.”
As a development concept for the field, Reabold has proposed a subsea tieback to Dunbar (18.6 miles) or Ninian (31 miles).
“The tie-back distance to the preferred host Dunbar is long but it within current technological limits. Further flow assurance studies would be required to determine that fluids can flow to Dunbar without artificial boosting (ESP, subsea pumps, gas lift etc.)” the report notes.
RPS said it was “supportive” of the concept proposed by Reabold, estimating the costs for a three-well subsea tie-back development with two producer wells and one injector at around £219m.
A similar four-well development at Oulton West was estimated at £290m, and £49m for a single gas well at Oulton West Frigg.
Reabold is currently in Phase A of the P2504 licence, having completed several work commitments and now must make a drill-or-drop decision by November 2024.
Under a proposed schedule well planning would need to be undertaken this year 2023with host negotiations and FEED conlcluded ahead of 2025 – a timeline RPS said was “aggressive but achievable.”
Giving an additional year to reach FID, it suggested first production may be in 2028. However, it noted that a start-up date this late in the decade would also mean that Energy Profits Levy (EPL) provisions would not apply to Oulton given its expected start date beyond March of that year.
Dunrobin
Meanwhile, the Dunrobin prospect in the Moray Firth is estimated to contain a mean 197 million barrels.
The CPR notes Reabold has proposed development using a leased FPSO with subsea wells as the concept for Dunrobin West. Associated gas would be used for fuel with excess re-injected into the reservoir.
“In potential upside cases gas export to the nearby Captain Field may be economically viable but has not been considered here. Subsea production wells will be fitted with downhole ESPs routed to a redeployed existing FPSO, potentially a Sevan (cylindrical hull shape) style vessel,” the report adds.
Total costs were estimated at just over £400m, though progress and timing is likely to depend on the appetite of its current partners.
© Supplied by Reabold Resources‘Tough’ farm out market
In a filmed interview published on Wednesday, Reabold co-chief executive Stephen Williams said the market was “tough” but that he was optimistic on the prospects for farming out the firm’s northern North Sea interests.
“I think the CPR confirms the fact that these are interesting credible projects and they are things we hope the industry will want to participate in. We are in a farm out process at the moment looking at industry participation in one or more of these projects.
“Being honest, the farm out market at the moment is tough, the macro environment is not encouraging people to invest capital into the UK as we would hope – but they are a great set of projects, the CPR confirms that and so we’ll continue with that initiative.”
In the meantime, he said the firm would look next to the drilling of West Newton B-2” – a major UK onshore play set to be drilled with partners this year.
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