Abstract: The Erskine Field of the Central Graben, UK North Sea

Singer, Julian - Texaco Inc.; Ghosh, Avi - Texaco Ltd., UK

The Erskine Field is the UK's first high pressure/high temperature, gas-condensate development to reach production. Reservoirs are comprised of Upper and Middle Jurassic sandstones of the Heather, Fulmar, and Pentland Formations. The application of recent technological advances in HP/HT drilling, 3D seismic and reservoir evaluation were critical for achieving the field's commercial potential. Hydrocarbon fluids and overpressure conditions are similar for all reservoirs, with initial reservoir pressures of 14,000 psi (960 bar) at depths of approximately 15,000 feet (4570 m.). Careful attention has been paid to reservoir management issues including those of permeability impairment through rock compaction, condensate banking at the well-bore and sand production risks using advanced compositional reservoir modeling tools and detailed laboratory testing. These studies have enabled and provided high confidence in the optimized well-count — a key issue in deep HP/HT field economics. The Erskine Field began production in October 1997 and is being developed using a normally unmanned single steel platform tied back to the Lomond processing facility 20 miles (30Km.) to the North through an insulated pipeline carrying the multi-phase fluids. Estimated ultimate recovery is 75 MMBBL and 330 BCF.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90933©1998 ABGP/AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil