Development

The Columbus Field is a gas condensate Forties sandstone reservoir and has been fully appraised by four wells. The field lies partly in Block 23/16f, operated by Serica with a 50% interest, and partly in Block 23/21 operated by BG.  Under a unitisation agreement, Serica will hold a 33.2% interest in the field and act as operator of the Columbus Field Development.

The engineering design of the subsea and production facilities has been completed and consists of two near horizontal production wells originally intended to be tied back to the nearby Lomond platform via an 8” pipeline to a minimum facility Bridge Linked Platform (“BLP”), which was to be installed and connected to Lomond by a short bridge.  However,  the operator of the Lomond field, BG, has decided not to proceed with the installation of the BLP and an alternative export route is therefore being considered by the Columbus partners. The options include the possibility of tying back directly to the Lomond platform, a solution under discussion with BG requiring the minimum of changes to the existing development plan which had received conditional approval from the Development of Energy and Climate Change.

Prior to the cancellation of the BLP project, first gas from Columbus was expected in the second half of 2015 with initial production rates estimated to be 60 mmscfd of gas and 3,000 bpd of condensate. These continue to be the target whilst alternative export routes are being evaluated.