Centrica hands in development plan for Oda field

Partners in the Oda field, previously named Butch, located in license PL 405 in the North Sea, have submitted the plan for its Development and Operation (PDO) to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

The Oda partnership includes Centrica Norge (operator 40%), Suncor Energy Norge (30%), Aker BP (15%), and Faroe Petroleum (15%). The Oda field was discovered in 2011, in the Norwegian North Sea, in shallow water approximately 13 kilometers east of the producing Ula field.

Faroe Petroleum said on Wednesday that the proposed development will include a 4-slot seabed template with two production wells, and one water injection well, which will tie back to the Ula platform. Oil will be transported via the Norpipe system to the Teesside Terminal in the UK, while the gas will be sold at the platform to Ula for re-injection into the Ula reservoir to improve recovery.

This subsea tie-in presents an innovative solution, reusing the existing Oselvar infrastructure, operated by Faroe, from the Ula platform. Production from Oselvar will cease in order to allow Oda production to start and the Oselvar owners will be compensated accordingly.

Faroe added that the Oda partnership has worked over the last two years to reduce investment costs by over 40%. Expected investment has been reduced to around NOK 5.4 billion ($632.6M), with production scheduled to start in 2019. 2P reserves from Oda are estimated to be 42 mmboe, of which 95% is oil and peak production is anticipated to be around 35,000 boepd (Faroe net 5,250 boepd).

Graham Stewart, CEO of Faroe Petroleum, commented: “Following the successful Hyme development, Oda is the second Norwegian subsea tie-back development that Faroe has participated in, located in one of the company’s core areas. Faroe is well-funded for the development with cash on hand and an undrawn reserve based lending facility available.

“Interests in the Ula and Oselvar fields, recently acquired by Faroe as part of the package of assets acquired from Dong Energy, provide further synergies and upside alongside Oda, where Faroe will benefit from enhanced recovery from gas injection in the Ula field along with tariff income and financial compensation from Oda owners as an Oselvar owner.”

Tove Francke, assistant director for development and operations in the southern North Sea at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), said: “It is positive that the licensees in Oda, through excellent cooperation, have chosen a development solution that contributes to cost-efficient utilization of infrastructure in the area and available process capacity on Ula.

“The gas that is produced on Oda has a positive impact on Ula’s oil recovery, and the re-use of existing equipment will benefit Oda and Oselvar, as well as Norwegian society.”