First oil flows from Premier’s Solan

Independent oil and gas company Premier Oil has announced that first oil from the Solan field, in the UK North Sea, was achieved on April 12, 2016.

According to the company’s statement on Wednesday, the first producer well (P1) is being naturally flowed at a deliberately restricted initial rate. It is planned that the well will remain free flowing for a short time after which the ESP (pump) will be turned on.

Following this initial period and, taking advantage of the availability of the Superior Flotel, over which Premier has contractual options until the end of May, Premier said it intends to carry out a planned production shut down to complete the final commissioning of the water injection plant, the tie in of the second water injection well (W2) and preparation for the tie in of the second producer well (P2).

The Ocean Valiant rig is currently drilling the second producer well (P2y), where 1,500ft of high quality reservoir sands have been intersected and which is expected to be completed and tied-in by mid-year, the oil company stated on Wednesday.

The company also added that production from the field was expected to build up to an anticipated production rate of 20-25 kbeopd in the second half of 2016 when both pairs of producer-injector wells will be on stream.

The start-up of Solan development project was previously expected by the end of 2015, but the project was delayed due to harsh weather in the North Sea.