The Buzzard Oil Field is an
oil field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations.
Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...
located in the
North Sea Blocks 19/10, 19/5a, 20/6 and 20/1s. It was discovered in 2001 by PanCanadian, and developed initially by PanCanadian's successor
EnCana and then by
Nexen. The oil field was initially operated and owned by
Nexen which is now a subsidiary of China's
CNOOC.
The field
The total
proven reserves of the Buzzard oil field are , and production will be centered on per day.
The Buzzard reservoir has a low gas/oil ratio and requires pressure maintenance through water injection. Buzzard’s oil consists of medium sour crude: 32.6° API, 1.4% sulphur.
Infrastructure
The Buzzard field development comprises four bridge-linked steel platforms: the wellhead facilities (W) for up to 27 production wells, production facilities (P), a platform supporting accommodation and utilities (UQ) and an oil stripper platform (PS).
Processing
The oil processing facilities comprise a 3-phase (oil/vapour/water) Production Separator. Oil from the separator flows to the 3-phase Second Stage Separartor. Oil from the latter is 'spiked' with
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) from the gas dewpointing plant, then injected with a
hydrogen sulphide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...
(H
2S) scavenger chemical prior to metering and export.
[Process Sketch Oil and Gas export (2006)]
Produced water from the Second Stage Separator is recycled to the Production Separator, and from there to the produced water treatment facilities using
hydrocyclones before overboard disposal.
Vapour from the two Separators is compressed in an Offgas Compressor and a LP/HP compressor. Compressed gas passes through a
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
Removal Bed and an Acid Gas Removal system, which uses a
counter-current flow of
amine solvent, and then through a
Mercaptans
In organic chemistry, a thiol (; ), or thiol derivative, is any organosulfur compound of the form , where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. The functional group itself is referred to as either a thiol group or a sulfhydryl gro ...
Removal Bed. The gas is dehydrated in a gas dehydration system which uses a counter-current flow of
glycol. After dehydration the gas is cooled and passes through a
Joule-Thomson valve to reduce its pressure and hence its temperature to remove liquids and achieve a gas hydrocarbon
dewpoint. Natural Gas Liquids are separated and co-mingled with the export oil stream. Gas is compressed in the HP Compressors, some is used as
gas lift on the production wells, some as fuel gas, and the remainder is exported.
Export
Oil is exported from Buzzard via an 18 inch pipeline from the Buzzard processing platform to the nearest point in the
Forties Forties can mean:
*1940s, the years 1940–1949
*40s, the years 40-49 AD
*The years 40-49 of any century - see List of decades
*Long Forties, area in the North Sea
*The Forties shipping forecast area (roughly corresponding to the Long Forties)
*Fo ...
to Cruden Bay System, approximately 28 km away. Oil flows to Cruden Bay and then onto the Kinneil Terminal. First oil was produced in December 2006.
Gas is exported via a pipeline from Buzzard to the Captain ‘T’ point on the UK
Frigg pipeline 29 km away. From there the gas is transported to the
St Fergus Gas Terminal. Fuel gas can also be imported onto Buzzard from the Frigg pipeline.
Production History
Buzzard was the largest discovery in UK waters for 20 years when it was found in 2001 and went on to become the largest-producing field in the region after starting up in 2007.
Once at a peak of more than of
oil equivalent per day in 2009, production has decreased to of oil equivalent per day as of May 2020, according to Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) figures.
Buzzard was temporarily shutdown twice in late 2019 for repairs to topside pipework.
Expansion
Buzzard Phase 2 is a bid to go after additional reserves to the north of the main field with a subsea development tied-back to it, with expected peak production of of oil equivalent per day.
The first stage includes installation of a subsea manifold, a new processing module for the platform and drilling of four production wells. First oil from Buzzard Phase 2 was expected in late 2020 but as of August 2020, CNOOC postponed the project to 2021. Chrysaor stated that the drilling results for Buzzard Phase 2 was "towards the lower end of expectations," with the project now expected to come on stream in December 2021.
Buzzard Phase 2 achieved first oil in the fourth quarter of 2021. Buzzard Phase 2 is expected to reach its peak production in 2022, adding approximately 12,000 boe/d gross (approximately 3,500 boe/d net to Suncor) to existing Buzzard production.
References
{{coord missing, North Sea
North Sea oil fields
Oil fields of the United Kingdom