Cairn Energy has flagged development approval for the SNE field offshore Senegal – which counts Woodside, Far and Petrosen as JV partners – by the end of 2018.
This follows the third phase of a completed offshore drilling program to further evaluate the SNE field using the Stena Drill Max drillship and an operational update from the independent UK-based independent aiming to expedite developments at SNE.
Cairn, as operator, said as part of its three-year evaluation work plan submitted to the Senegalese government, the company and its partners intend to have a government-approved exploitation plan in place by the end of 2018 with targeted first oil planned for 2021-2023.
SNE’s resource base is 563million barrels and the comprehensive field exploitation plan will cover the development in its entirety.
Cairn said it was expected that the first phase would have up to 25 wells targeting about 240mmbbls, principally in the S500 lower reservoir with an initial target plateau of 75-125,000 bopd.
The company has already stated that planning for the development of SNE envisages a standalone FPSO with subsea wells and expansion capability.
