Perenco increases gas production at West Sole Charlie

Perenco UK increased gas production by installing velocity strings at the West Sole Charlie platform in the Southern North Sea, 70 km east of Perenco’s Dimlington terminal on the Yorkshire Coast.

The campaign was conducted on five wells by the Petrodec HAEVA rig and has delivered sustained production gains of around 5 MMscfd, in line with expectations. Improved production rates are now being seen in each of the wells, which have been running with 100% uptime, rather than requiring cycling. Two of the restarted wells were previously shut-in and not producing. The net effect is a new production rate above 30 MMscfd for West Sole field.

In the case of West Sole, the original completions with 5 ½-in. tubing were no longer optimal, given the now partially depleted reservoir. Inserting velocity strings of narrower diameter helps to increase the fluid velocities, thereby sustaining production at lower pressures and allowing extension of field life, the company said.

Perenco had previously deployed this technique to good effect in 2020 at its nearby operated Hyde field. Other Southern North Sea, such as Apollo, are being evaluated for similar potential.