Ensign Gas Field, North Sea, United Kingdom

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Key Data

Ensign offshore gas and condensate field is located 80km away from the English coastline and 78km away from the UK !"tch median line at a water depth of #8m $%#ft& in the so"thern 'orth Sea( )he field lies in blocks *8 1*a and *8 1+a of the United Kingdom ,ontinental Shelf $UK,S&( ,entrica Energy Upstream- a prod"ction and e.ploration arm of the UK/based company ,entrica- owns and operates the field( 0irst gas from the field was prod"ced in May #01#(

Ensign gas field discovery, geology and development

1)he field lies in blocks *8 1*a and *8 1+a of the United Kingdom ,ontinental Shelf $UK,S&(1

)he Ensign 2as field was discovered by Shell Esso in 1%83 with the drilling well *8 1*/ #( )he field was f"rther apprised by ,onoco in 1%88 with the drilling well *8 1+a/3( )he field was later ac4"ired by 5ent"re 'orth Sea 2as and 'S26- which drilled two additional appraisal wells namely *8 1*/+ and *8 1*/3( ,entrica gained ownership of the field "pon ac4"iring 5ent"re 'orth Sea 2as and 'S26 in #00%( )he field development approvals were received from the !epartment of Energy and ,limate ,hange $!E,,& in #011( ,entrica invested abo"t 71+0m $8#97m& on the field development( )he appraisal wells were drilled thro"gh hydra"lic well fract"ring techni4"es to improve the gas recoverability( )he process involved p"mping high press"re fl"ids into reservoir rock formations for creating fract"res and opening "p the rock to allow the flow of gas(

Infrastructure of the North Sea field

)he gas field has been developed by the installation of a 'ot 6ermanently :ttended ;nstallation $'6:;&( )he prod"ction and processing infrastr"ct"re at the field comprises of three prod"ction wells- incl"ding two platform wells and one s"bsea well tied back to a #*km long ten/ inch e.port pipeline connected to the :"drey : platform( 2as from the :"drey platform is e.ported via a #0in pipeline to the <incolnshire =ffshore 2as 2athering System $<=22S& operated by ,onoco6hillips- and f"rther e.ported to )heddlethorpe 2as terminal( )he topside of the platform weighs +00t and meas"res 13m long- 1#m wide and 8(+m high( ;t feat"res a cellar deck- me>>anine deck and weather deck- as well as a helideck( )he well head ?acket of the platform- weighing +00t- has length and width of #0m and height of *8m(

Production and reserves of the UK s Ensign gas field

)he initial gas prod"ction from the field is eno"gh to power abo"t ##+-000 ho"seholds( )he field has estimated gas reserves of abo"t %7bcf( )he field is e.pected to prod"ce abo"t #(9 million metric standard c"bic metres $MMSm9& of gas a day(

!ontractors involved "ith the offshore development

@eerema 0abrication 2ro"p was awarded with a contract to provide engineeringproc"rement and constr"ction of the wellhead platform and ?acket for the field in :"g"st #010(

1,entrica Energy Upstream- a prod"ction and e.ploration arm of the UK/based company ,entrica- owns and operates the field(1 )he constr"ction of both topside and well head ?acket was completed in :"g"st #011( )he topside was constr"cted at 5ictoria !ock facility in @artlepool( )he well head ?acket was constr"cted at 2reenland road facility in @artlepool( S"bsea 7 was awarded with the engineering- proc"rement- installation and commissioning $E6;,& contract for the flow lines and s"bsea works at the field in 0ebr"ary #011( )he contract was worth abo"t 830m( )he scope incl"ded installation of #*km of 10in gas and #in methanol pipelines that connected the Ensign platform and the e.isting s"bsea pipelines at the :"drey : platform( =ther contractors involved in the field development incl"ded 'oble A"lie Bobertson $'AB&- which drilled the prod"ction wells- and 6etrofac- which provided the front end engineering design $0EE!& and e.ec"tion of topside modifications( :ker Sol"tions was contracted to s"pply s"bsea controls for the wells( !ril/C"ip s"pplied prod"ction trees and Seaway @eavy <ifting provided transport and installation services(