French supermajor TotalEnergies (LON: TTE) is ramping up activity at its Glendronach gas discovery West of Shetland.
A contract to secure a semi-submersible drilling rig for the project was put out to tender by the London-listed oil giant in August, with two further deals in the pipeline.
Both worth less than £25 million, one covers the engineering procurement supply construction and commissioning for the installation of a subsea tie-back to the Shetland Gas Plant.
The other is for the “exercise to order long lead items for the well completion”.
They are expected to be put out to tender on November 1, according to the North Sea Transition Authority’s (NSTA) energy pathfinder.
A deal to source a semi-submersible drilling rig for Glendronach hit the shelves on August 1.
The one well campaign is expected to last about 90 days and kick off in spring 2024.
A final investment decision on Glendronach, which is located in Block 206/4a of the North Sea, about 20 miles east of the Laggan field, is expected before the end of the year.
An exploration well was drilled in 2018 in 290 metre water depth, with an appraisal well in the following year.
The discovery will be produced along with Edradour-Glenlivet using existing infrastructure and capacity available at the Shetland Gas Plant.
The original plan had been to develop Glendronach through the nearby Edradour field, which started up in 2017.
But that idea was challenged when “high levels of mercury” were discovered at the major gas field.
Glendronach forms part of the Greater Laggan Area (GLA), alongside the Laggan, Tormore, Edradour and Glenlivet fields.
As operator, TotalEnergies has a 40% in the region, alongside partners Kistos (20%), Ineos E&P UK (20%) and a RockRose Energy subsidiary (20%).
An FID on Glendronach had originally been expected in July 2020, but was pushed back to 2021 and is still yet to be taken.
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