French oil and gas company Total and Qatar Petroleum have launched a new joint venture to develop the Qatar’s largest offshore oil field Al-Shaheen.

The Al-Shaheen oil field, which is located in Qatari waters 80 kilometers north of Ras Laffan , consists of 33 platforms and close to 400 wells. It currently produces about 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

The joint venture of the two oil companies, North Oil Company (NOC), will be the new operator and developer of the field for a period of 25 years.

Qatar Petroleum said that NOC has finished all transition activities to take over the operation of the giant Al-Shaheen oil field on 14 July 2017.

The commencement of NOC operations follows the expiry of the exploration and production sharing agreement between Qatar Petroleum and the field’s former operator, Maersk Oil.

Under the new contractual arrangements, NOC has been given the rights to develop and operate the Al-Shaheen oil field for the next 25 years.

Established in June 2016, NOC is partnership between Qatar Petroleum and Total with 70% and 30% stakes, respectively. 

The two companies announced that they would invest $3.5bn for the development of exploration of Al Shaheen oil field, The Peninsula reported.

Total chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said: “NOC will leverage its technical capabilities to optimize the exploitation of Al- Shaheen complex oil field.

“Our solid development plan for Al-Shaheen includes the drilling of more than 100 wells over the next 5 years and the implementation of new technologies in order to maintain production while preserving the highest safety standards and reducing operating costs.”

The first phase of the development plan of Al Shaheen involves drilling 56 new wells. It will begin this summer with the mobilization of the first two rigs, while a third rig will get added at the beginning of next year.

The Al-Shaheen field began production in 1994 and it accounts for about half of Qatar’s oil production.

In May, NOC selected engineering firm Ramboll to undertake a pre-FEED study for three new wellhead platforms at the Al-Shaheen oil field.

Image: NOC will operate the Al-Shaheen oil field for the next 25 years. Photo courtesy of suwatpo/FreeDigitalPhotos.net