Operator redeveloping North Sea field shut-in since 2016

North Sea-focused oil and gas company NEO Energy has filed its environmental statement for the Affleck offshore field redevelopment for review by the UK’s authorities.

The Affleck field was discovered in 1975 and is located in the UK sector of the North Sea within block 30/19a, approximately 287 kilometres east-southeast of Aberdeen, and approximately 5 km from the UK/Norway median line, in a water depth of approximately 70 metres. It started production in mid-2009 and the wells were previously operated via the Janice platform, which was decommissioned in 2016. Therefore, the field has been shut-in since 2016.

In October 2018, the field’s previous operator, TotalEnergies, kicked off a Screening Study assessing options available for the redevelopment of Affleck and determined that it provides a value opportunity worthy of further analysis. Therefore, the recommendation was to mature Affleck further. The Select Stage study was kicked off in September 2019.

Following the selection of Judy platform as the preferred tie-back option in November 2021, the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study was kicked off to refine the technical work to allow the Final Investment Decision to be made.

In early 2022, NEO took ownership of the North Sea field and it now plans to redevelop it via two existing production wells (A1 and A2). The redevelopment will entail a subsea tie-back to the Harbour Energy-operated Judy platform via the Talbot field.

The decision to redevelop the field was made having in mind the need to secure energy supply during the UK energy transition and the replacement of imports with national hydrocarbon supply.

As detailed in the Environmental Statement, installation of new risers, flowlines, umbilical, and tie-in structures will be required as part of this development. On the Judy platform, produced fluids from Affleck and Talbot will be commingled with production from other nearby fields that are already operating and separated into gas and liquids streams for export.

Judy is a manned platform with accommodation, production, processing and gas injection equipment. Judy is in block 30/7a of the UK central North Sea approximately 240 km southeast of Aberdeen. The Joanne, Jade, and Jasmine fields, all operated by Harbour Energy, are tied back to the Judy platform. After being processed on Judy, gas is transported through the CATS Pipeline and liquids are transported through the Norpipe system to Teesside.