Engie boosts Cara estimates, aims to select concept in one year

Engie E&P has increased the resource estimate at its Cara license in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, estimating that the discovery contains 56 – 94 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Engie is the operator of the Cara gas and oil discovery in PL636 in block 36/7, located approximately 14 kilometers from the Engie E&P-operated Gjøa facilities.

The original volumes were estimated to be between 4.5 and 12 million standard cubic meter (MSm3) of recoverable oil equivalent, which corresponds to 25 – 70 million barrels. This made Cara the second largest discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf in 2016, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

 

Increase in volumes

 

Engie E&P now estimates the volumes of the discovery to be in the range of 9 – 15 million standard cubic meter (MSm3) of recoverable oil equivalent. This corresponds to 56 – 94 million barrels.

“Since the discovery in 2016, we have analyzed the expanded data acquisition conducted during drilling and testing of the well. This has resulted in increased volumes, which gives us an improved economy and a more robust field development project,” said Project Manager Cara, Siri Lunde in Engie E&P.

 

Tie-back to Gjøa

 

This week, the Cara license reached the so-called “Concretization Decision”, which is the feasibility decision gate in the Norwegian petroleum system. At this stage, the licensees have identified at least one technical and economically feasible concept that provides a basis for initiating studies that should lead to concept selection by November 1, 2018. The suggested concept involves a tie-back to the Gjøa facilities.

Earlier this year, Engie awarded contracts for feasibility studies for the Cara project to TechnipFMC and Aker Engineering and Technology. These studies considered whether the Cara discovery could be tied-in to existing Gjøa infrastructure through a subsea solution.

Expected start-up of production at the Cara field is being targeted for late 2020/2021.

License partners in PL 636: Partners in PL636 are: Idemitsu Petroleum (30%), Pandion Energy (20%), Wellesley Petroleum (20%), Engie E&P (30%, Operator).