Glenelg

	In 1999 Total discovered the Glenelg accumulation in Block 29/4d (licence P.752), located just 4km west south west of the Elgin PUQ platform. Technical solutions for the development of the discovery were being worked on even before Elgin/Franklin started production. It is a high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) discovery which contains gas and condensate.

An industry innovation

Glenelg is a tilted fault block structure. The reservoir lies over 6km below the seabed where the pressure is 1100 bar and the temperature 200°C – similar HP/HT conditions to Elgin/Franklin

The exploration well, 29/4d-4, was drilled by the heavy-duty jack-up rig Transocean Nordic in 1998/99. Oil and gas were encountered in the Upper Jurassic Fulmar sandstones below a depth of 5,400m with initial tests indicating a daily flow rate of 0.65 standard cubic metres of gas and 2,100 barrels of condensate, limited by surface facilities.

Development

Ongoing studies to determine the optimum development of the discovery include deciding on the number of development wells and the preferred route for export.

Production

First oil was produced from Glenelg on 29th March 2006. The well has potential to produce in excess of 30, 000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The gas production from Glenelg will be used to fill spare capacity in the Elgin/Franklin platform, which has a maximum capacity rate of 15.5 million cubic metres per day.

For a press release about the start of production on Glenelg, click here