Development plans for Atlantic, Cromarty North Sea fields finalized

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Apr. 20 -- Amerada Hess Corp. and BG Group have made final plans for the development of the Atlantic and Cromarty gas and condensate fields in the North Sea.

The partners have received confirmation from ExxonMobil Corp. unit Mobil North Sea Ltd., operator of SAGE terminal at St. Fergus, for access to the terminal to process reservoir fluids from the fields. Production from the fields will be mixed offshore and exported to the terminal.

BG operates and holds 75% interest in Atlantic field, which lies on Block 14/26a. Amerada Hess holds the remaining interest. Cromarty field lies on Block 13/30a and is operated by Amerada Hess with 90% interest; BG holds the remaining 10%. The fields are estimated to hold gross reserves of 118 bcf and 106 bcf, respectively.

First production is slated for late 2005 or early 2006, with peak production expected to reach 220 MMscfd of gas.

Subsea facilities will be operated remotely from SAGE terminal via satellite to the Goldeneye platform, operated by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and then via a 32 km subsea umbilical to the two fields.