Erskine gives first gas

Nov. 6, 1997 The Erskine gas condensate field, operated by Texaco North Sea UK Ltd, produced its first gas on Tuesday 4 Nov. 1997 at 19.15 hrs. Initial production will be followed by further development drilling before peak production is reached from the field's 6 producer wells in Oct. 1998, expected to be 120 mm standard cubic feet of gas per day and 29,600 barrels of condensate per day. Estimated recoverable reserves total more than 330 bn cf of natural gas and over 75 mm barrels of condensate.
"Erskine is a significant development for Texaco and a valuable addition to the company's North Sea portfolio," said Texaco Ltd Chairman Don Bennett. "As the first high pressure/high temperature gas field to be developed in the UK North Sea, it is clearly a pioneering development. Given the complexities of Erskine drilling, installation design and expansion of existing facilities, bringing this field on stream is a remarkable achievement.
Located in the Central Graben, 160 miles east of Aberdeen, the field straddles blocks 23/26b and 23/26a. The $ 290 mm project has been developed as a 50:50 joint venture with BP, with Texaco as operator. Erskine gas lies in Jurassic sandstones at a depth of 15,000 feet, with a bottom-hole pressure of 14,000 psi and a temperature of 340F.
Produced gas and liquids are piped, unprocessed, via a 16" multi-phase pipeline, to Amoco's Lomond platform for separation and export. Liquids are then exported via BP's Forties pipeline system to Cruden Bay north of Aberdeen. Gas travels through the Amoco-operated CATS riser and on through the CATS pipeline to Teesside where it is processed at the Amoco-operated terminal to sales quality.