As the oil price crisis continues to bite, one interesting side effect is that offshore fields that were previously considered uneconomic to exploit—marginal fields—are becoming ever larger.

Paradoxically, these fields are therefore becoming more appealing as development opportunities. If cost-effective solutions can be found to tap these fields, the rewards will be all the greater when the oil price starts to rise again.

Although analysis by operators, suppliers and government bodies suggests that the industry should plan for the oil price to remain at current levels for the next three to four years at least, there are opportunities out there if projects can be developed at lower costs.

In a bid to exploit these opportunities, the Marginal Field Initiative being developed by ABT Oil and Gas (ABTOG), a joint venture between Enegi Oil and RMRI Ltd., is taking the plunge.

Global engineering and design consultancy Arup is the latest company to join the Marginal Field Delivery Consortium, a group that includes Kongsberg Maritime, Apollo, RMRI, Braemar ACM, AGR and Frames.

Arup is bringing its proven-in-use structure, the ACE platform, to the party. It is able to house ABTOG’s normally unattended topsides.

Four of Arup’s ACE self-installing and redeployable platforms already have been used in Australia’s Bass Strait, the Taranaki Basin off New Zealand, the West Natuna Sea in Indonesia and the West Philippine Sea, with a fifth currently being developed for a field in the U.K. North Sea.

Enegi said these self-installing and relocatable platforms combine the advantages of traditional fixed platforms with the versatility offered by mobile units.

They are particularly economical where reuse allows several reserves to be exploited in areas of high decommissioning costs or where access to specialist installation vessels is limited and costly.

The ACE has particular advantages for application to a number of the projects on which ABTOG is currently in discussion.

ABTOG has a number of targets for its technology, including already producing late-field-life projects where the aim is to recover more reserves and defer decommissioning costs; pre-production, early-field-life projects where the aim is to reduce investment risk in the early stages of a project through incremental development; and small field developments where initial assessment indicates ABTOG’s solutions can unlock the value of fields that were previously considered to be stranded.

“It is imperative that solutions to achieve the cost reductions be configured from existing and proven technology,” said Alan
Minty, chairman of Enegi.

“Thus, the value in the current economic climate is very significant. Through the utilization of ABTOG’s solutions, cost reductions of up to 60% can be generated, which can create new projects or extend project life.”

There are hundreds of marginal fields around the world. ABTOG’s solutions are thought to be suitable for a large proportion of those, although the investment required for some small fields will never be justified when the risks are assessed.

At least someone is dipping their toe in the water to find out.

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