Production from the full five-field West Nile Delta development, the Giza-Fayoum-Raven project, is expected to represent about 30% of Egypt’s current production
BP p.l.c. (ticker: BP) will bring five major upstream projects online in 2018. The projects span the globe, with assets coming up in Europe, North Africa and North America.
David O’Connor, BP’s head of global projects, gave a quick rundown on what’s happening in 2018.
Atoll Phase 1
BP Atoll Phase 1 2018
Located in the East Nile Delta, the Atoll Phase 1 is BP’s deepest well drilled offshore Egypt, reaching 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) in 2015. The well will produce conventional gas and will be operated by Pharaonic Petroleum Company, with BP retaining 100% interest. O’Connor said that it is planned to be online towards the end of Q1 2018.
Clair Ridge
BP Clair Ridge 2018
“The Clair Ridge project in the UK North Sea is the next phase of development for the massive Clair field. Set to come online in 2018, it’s foundational for the region because Clair Ridge is creating a platform for future developments west of Shetland,” O’Connor said. “There will be more to come after Clair Ridge. We are already looking at some exploration in the area such as Clair South and it will create the opportunity to develop the northern part of the field in the future. It’s an important asset for BP in the North Sea.”
Clair Ridge will produce conventional oil and the Clair field extends over an area of 85 square miles (or 220 square kilometers) – making it larger than the U.S. District of Colombia. BP will be the operator and hold 28.6% interest in the project.
Shah Deniz Stage 2
BP Shah Deniz Stage 2 2018
According to O’Connor, the Shah Deniz Stage 2 is the biggest BP major project set to be delivered in 2018. The Shah Deniz is actually a series of mega projects set across the Southern Gas Corridor in Azerbaijan. BP will be the operator with an interest of 28.8%. The project(s) will produce conventional gas will span seven countries due to the Southern Gas Corridor’s immense size.
“When it was sanctioned back in 2013, many in the industry did not believe it could be done, due to its complexity. But, as we enter the new year, we are ahead of plan and under budget,” O’Connor said.
Constellation
BP Constellation 2018
“The Constellation project in the Gulf of Mexico came out of a discovery previously called Hopkins that we made two years ago. At the time, we planned to do a fast-paced development but our appraisal well revealed that the reservoir was smaller than we’d hoped. That meant the original development plan was no longer viable or economical,” said O’Connor.
However, by partnering up with Anadarko, the two companies were able to develop the field using Anadarko’s existing facilities. The partnership fought off disappointment and turned the discovery into an opportunity.
The well will produce deep-water oil and BP has 66.67% interest in the project. Anadarko has signed on to be the operator. According to BP, Constellation represents one of the longest oil tiebacks in the Gulf of Mexico, at around 32 miles (52 kilometers).
Giza-Fayoum
BP Giza-Fayoum 2018
The Giza-Fayoum project in Egypt’s West Nile Delta will be operated by BP, producing conventional gas with BP’s interest set at 82.75%. According to BP, production from the full five-field West Nile Delta development is expected to represent about 30% of Egypt’s current production.
“We originally set up a three-field Giza-Fayoum-Raven project to be delivered as one in 2019,” O’Connor said. However, as time went on, the demand for gas in Egypt kept rising.
“Conversations with our regional team and the Egyptian Government highlighted the deep need for gas in the country – and quickly,” O’Connor added. “Our project teams went back to the drawing board to look at it again and found a way to split out Giza and Fayoum from the Raven delivery. So, we recreated the plan to bring gas on stream from Giza and Fayoum in 2018, with Raven to follow in 2019.”
