Neptune Increases North Sea Field Production Through Tiebacks

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has increased production from its operated Gjøa platform in the North Sea by two million barrels of oil equivalents from 2020 to 2021.

Gross production over the Gjøa platform ended on 42 million boe in 2021, compared with 40 million boe in 2020. Neptune stated that 76 percent of the production was gas, all of which is exported through the FLAGS pipeline to the St. Fergus Gas Terminal in the UK.

According to the company, the increased production was due mainly to production start-up from the Gjøa P1 infill development in February and the Duva field tie-back in August.

To remind, the Gjøa P1 is a two-well development with one oil and one gas producer developed via a new subsea template, tied back to existing infrastructure on the Gjøa field. The Duva oil and gas field was developed as a subsea installation with three oil producers and one gas producer, tied back to the same Gjøa platform.

Neptune noted that production from the tie-back field Vega, operated by Wintershall Dea, and the Gjøa field itself, had been better than expected. Estimated reserves on the Gjøa field have increased by 38 percent since the Plan for Development and Production was approved in 2007.

“Our ambition to develop the Gjøa platform into a host facility and a hub for nearby discoveries has succeeded. This has not only prolonged the life of the Gjøa platform itself but has resulted in far higher value creation than expected at start-up. Successful utilization of the Gjøa infrastructure as a hub is further seen as a critical enabler for continued exploration and development in this part of the North Sea,” Neptune Energy’s Head of Operations in Norway, Martin Borthne, said.

“This year we expect to bring on stream a fourth tie-in field to the Gjøa facilities - Wintershall Dea’s Nova field. In addition, we plan to drill two exploration wells in the area and continue to mature other nearby discoveries and exploration opportunities as tie-in candidates. We have high expectations that the Gjøa hub will be in operation to 2040 and continue to create value in this area of the North Sea for many years to come,” Borthne added.

The Nova field is expected to start production in the second half of 2022 and, once online, it will be the fourth subsea field in production for the company.

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