Arctic E&P activity heats up

By Jessica Tippee
Assistant Editor

Not Mexico, not Brazil. The next offshore frontier is the Arctic, according to Andrew Reid, CEO of energy analysts Douglas-Westwood Company. “More than 400 fields have been discovered to date in the Arctic, providing reserves in excess of 240 Bboe (billions of barrels of oil equivalent)” Reid said. He was a guest speaker at a recent conference of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), an agency that has exclusively represented the worldwide oil and gas drilling industry since 1940. Reid also affirmed that “There is no doubt that further drilling activity in this region could have a major impact on offshore production in the foreseeable future.”

Meanwhile, Infield Systems Ltd. has identified more than 130 Bboe in discovered oil, gas, and condensate reserves throughout the offshore arctic and sub-arctic regions. Around 114 Bboe are gas reserves, and 16 Bbbl (billions of barrels) are oil. Infield’s additional report on offshore arctic oil and gas prospects through 2017 includes current and future offshore oil and gas developments within the Arctic Circle, and in the “sub-arctic” regions of Sakhalin Island, the Jeanne d’Arc basin offshore eastern Canada, and the Cook Inlet off Alaska.

Arctic capital expenditure should increase more than $7 billion annually through 2017. Russia, with its reserves, should largely drive this expenditure, especially during 2013-2015, assuming the Shtokman project goes ahead. This project includes a comprehensive development of satellites in the Barents Sea, and joint development of the Prirazlomnoye and Dolginskoye oil fields in the Pechora Sea.

Prirazlomnaya is the first offshore ice-resistant stationary platform designed and built in Russia measuring 126 m (413 ft) wide by 126 m long. With a weight of 117,000 tons, the platform can accommodate a crew of up to 200, and provide year-round operation.

The platform is designed to withstand temperatures that can drop to −50º C (−58º F) during winter, and ice formation – the location is typically free from ice for 110 days each year. The platform will provide drilling, production, and oil storage services, along with preparation and shipment of final products from the Prirazlomnoye field. Gazprom expects to drill up to 40 directional wells. Dutch contractor Tideway has been dumping 100,000 metric tons of stone (110,231 tons) as an erosion protection system around the platform to secure it to the seabed. The development is targeting annual production of more than 6 million tons (43.8 MMbbl). Associated produced gas will be used for the platform’s needs. Production operations are scheduled to start this year.

Offshore Magazine. May 2, 2012 . Volume 72, Issue 5 Available at: <http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-72/issue-5/international-report/arctic-e-p-activity-heats-up.html>. Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.

According to Text, the platform will NOT provide