By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 20 -- Maersk Oil and Qatar Petroleum produced the 1 billionth bbl of oil from Al Shaheen field along the Qatar arch in the Persian Gulf off Qatar.
Maersk said it has increased field output steadily and that the field is still producing at its 2009 average of 300,000 b/d, one third of Qatar’s oil output. The companies did not release an estimate of remaining reserves.
Maersk signed the exploration and production-sharing agreement on 3,500 sq km Block 5 in mid-1992 and started oil production from Al Shaheen field in 1994. The agreement applied to all formations above the Permian Khuff limestone.
Al Shaheen field, declared commercial in October 1994, underlies part of northern North field, a supergiant gas-condensate accumulation. Many judged Al Shaheen’s tight reservoir to be uneconomic, but output reached 60,000 b/d from 10 wells in 1997. The field has been developed largely with horizontal wells.
Maersk signed another EPSA in 2004 for the Block 5 Extension Area, applicable to the reservoirs in Block 5, covering 139 sq km north of Block 5.
The most recent $6 billion field development phase, agreed in December 2005, included the installation of 15 platforms, 163 production and water injection wells, and 140,000 tonnes of new facilities. It has been completed ahead of the prescribed schedule.
During the comprehensive installation work, Maersk managed a production uptime of better than 99% without compromising safety. Gas is reinjected and moved by pipeline for processing in QP’s onshore plants.