Project Profile
Value: US$541 million
Location: Outer Moray Firth, Central North Sea, UK
Production: 8.50 mcm per day of gas and 10,000 bpd condensate
Water Depth: 121 m
Discovery year: October 1996 (well 14/29a-3)
Start-up year: October 2004
Production ceased: 2011
The Goldeneye field lied in block 14//29 but also extended into blocks 14/28b, 20/30b and 20/4b. Goldeneye used to be the first single steel unmanned platform to bring gas to shore from the Outer Moray Firth area. The platform type was Normally Unattended Installation (NUI).
At first, the field was considered marginal, however, Shell built a 105-km pipeline which transported gas to St Fergus processing facility onshore. The project was granted approval by the UK Government in 2002 and only two years later first gas was produced. The producing reservoir lied in lower Cretaceous Captain sandstone.
Production from the field stopped in 2011 and Petrofac and Shell signed an agreement to redevelop the field as a carbon capture and storage facility. In November 2015, the Government announced that all funding for the CCS project was ended and the field with any associated infrastructure was set for decommissioning works.
Operators (at the time of start-up):
Shell: Operator with 49% interest
Esso: 39% interest
Centrica: 4.5% interest
Paladin Resources: 7.5% interest
Contractors:
Kvaerner: Construction of jacket and piles
Saipem: EPIC contract for subsea pipelines