US oil and gas firm Apache has commenced production from its 100% owned Garten development on Block 9/18a Area-W located in the UK North Sea.
Image: The Garten development is tied back to the Beryl Alpha Platform. Photo: courtesy of Apache Corporation.
First oil from the Garten development has come within eight months of the discovery. Production at the offshore UK field is carried out through a tie back to the company’s Beryl Alpha platform, located 289.6km northeast of Aberdeen.
The Garten field, which is located 6km south of the Beryl Alpha Platform, was originally targeted to begin production in the first quarter of 2019.
Apache North Sea region vice president Jon Graham said: “The Garten project is an excellent example of Apache’s strategy in the North Sea to focus exploration activity near operated facilities and leverage existing infrastructure. The pace of this project would not have been possible without the skills and expertise we have within our team and close collaboration with companies in our supply chain.
“The support we received from the Oil and Gas Authority cannot be overstated, and we are proud to be contributing toward maximizing economic recovery in the UK North Sea with the successful development of the field.”
The Garten development follows the Callater field discovery made by Apache in the Beryl area which was put into production in May 2017. Currently, the Garten well is producing from the Beryl sand at a rate of 13.7 thousand barrels of oil per day (MBOPD) and 15.7 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFPD), said Apache.
In March 2018, the Garten discovery well intersected a downthrown structural closure with 778ft of net oil pay in stacked, high-quality, Jurassic-aged sandstone reservoirs. The US firm, which has also tested two lower zones, expects all the three zones to be commingled eventually to maximize recovery.
The company estimates the recoverable resource at the Garten field to cross 10 million barrels of light oil along with associated natural gas.
Last month, Apache completed acquisition of Kayne Anderson Acquisition to create Altus Midstream, a $3.5bn worth pure-play, midstream company focused on the Permian basin in the US.