2014 will be busy year for drilling activities in the Greater Ekofisk Area. Several new wells will lay the foundation for continued good production from the Ekofisk and Eldfisk fields for decades.
The brand new drilling rig West Linus (pictured left) will arrive at the Ekofisk Complex this spring. The drilling program at the Ekofisk 2/4 Z well head platform will last for several years. When the campaign is completed, the 2/4 Z will have 36 wells, hereof 35 production wells and one well for reinjection of drill cuttings.On the neighbouring platform, the wellhead platform Ekofisk 2/4M, the drilling rig Rowan Norway will perform slot recovery on seven wells.
Mærsk Innovator is in the process of completing the wells on the Ekofisk 2/4 V B seabed installation. This installation has a total of eight wells for injection of water into the reservoir to maintain the pressure.Mærsk Innovator will then start drilling production wells on Eldfisk 2/7 S later this year. A total of 35 new wells will be drilled over the next few years. In total the 2/7 S platform has 40 well slots - four production wells and one well for reinjection of drill cuttings have been pre-drilled by Mærsk Gallant.
The Rowan Gorilla VI will also arrive in the spring. The drilling rig will plug wells on Ekofisk 2/4 A. When ‘Alpha’ was shut down in September 2013, this marked the end of 39 years of oil production. A total of 23 wells will be plugged on Norway’s first North Sea's permanent production platform.
In addition to the contracted drilling rigs, there will also be hectic activity on two of the company’s permanent drilling rigs - Ekofisk 2/4 X and 2/4 K.
‘The year will be very challenging for the well operations organisation. However, we are highly motivated to deliver the new wells on schedule and abandon the old wells efficiently. All our operations are executed to our high HSE standards,’ says David Forbes, Norway well operations manager.’