When looking at a map that shows the surface location of the 28/09a-C9 well that was spudded by Harbour Energy this month, it looks like it is drilling a prospect sitting in between the Catcher, Varadero and Laverda accumulations.
However, the horizontal well will ultimately land in the Eocene injectite sands of the Laverda discovery that was found by well 28/04a-4 in 2016. It will be the only producer to be drilled into the discovery that could produce up to 5.7 million barrels over its anticipated nine years lifetime.
It is tapping into what could be called one of Rishi Sunak’s six fields that was earmarked for rapid development. In fact, the Environmental Statement was already submitted in 2018. Covid-related delay is probably the reason why it is only being drilled today.
See also: Firing up the development of six UKCS fields: a reality check
The well is being drilled from the so-called Catcher North Drilling Template (CNDT), which is located mid-way between the Laverda and Catcher North fields. Following completion of the 28/09a-C9 well, the template will probably be used to also develop Catcher North, which has not been drilled into from the current Catcher drill centre that is located towards the southern end of the field.
From the CNDT, hydrocarbons will be piped to the Varadero manifold and from there to the Catcher FPSO. This solution was considered most efficient as it entailed the shortest flowlines.
The greater Catcher development – which includes the Catcher, Burgman and Varadero producing units, have seen stable production of around 50,000 barrels of oil per day since February 2021, coming off a plateau of close to 70,000 bo/d since November 2018. The fields are widely known for their good performance and with the drilling of both the Laverda and Catcher North satellites the development is thought to produce beyond the 2030’s.
According to the NSTA, hydrocarbons produced up to January this year amount to 80,4 MMboe. With Premier estimating a combined mid-case of 100 MMboe early in 2019, it looks as if this number is going to be exceeded.
HENK KOMBRINK
