An old field in a new landscape: the renaissance of Donan

Reekie, R. R. A.; Davies, E. L.; Hart, Nathan; McInally, A.; Todd, J. R.; McAteer, J.; Franoux, L.; Ferguson, Emily

doi:10.1144/0070431

PGC

2010

DOI: 10.1144/0070431

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An old field in a new landscape: the renaissance of Donan

R. R. A. Reekie¹,

E. L. Davies²,

Nathan Hart³

et al.

Abstract: The Donan Field was discovered in 1987 by BP well 15/20a-4. Oil is reservoired in Paleocene Lower

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The Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields, Blocks 15/20a and 15/20b, UK North Sea

Ings

Davids

Shotton

et al. 2020

Memoirs

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The Donan Field is a mature asset in the final phase of production, following the redevelopment facilitated by various advances in technology and subsurface understanding. The original development utilized an ingenious single-well oil production system vessel which made small hydrocarbon accumulations economic, while the use of a floating production, storage and offloading vessel to redevelop the Donan Field as the ‘Dumbarton Project’ allowed the previously stranded Lochranza and undiscovered Balloch fields to be developed.Donan and Lochranza are typical Paleocene oilfields with excellent water drive from a large regional aquifer. Balloch is an Upper Jurassic oilfield of equivalent size to Lochranza supported by a large regional aquifer but has a considerably higher recovery factor on account of excellent reservoir properties combined with a more optimal geometry to effectively sweep the reservoir. Most of the fields have exceeded pre-development expectations, particularly Balloch on account of it being developed whilst considerable subsurface uncertainties remained.Recognition of a seismic amplitude v. offset response across the Donan Field was key to redevelopment, significantly increasing the oil in place and guiding the locations of development wells. This was supplemented by the ability to geosteer the horizontal development wells in the shallowest possible reservoir sand to maximize the recoverable resources. The use of horizontal development wells facilitated the development of short, areally extensive, oil columns; while the design of the production facilities and wells to include permanent artificial lift and capacity to process large water volumes was essential.

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The Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields, Blocks 15/20a and 15/20b, UK North Sea

Ings

Davids

Shotton

et al. 2020

Memoirs

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Exploration of upside in a stranded discovery: Lochranza, a Donan Field satellite

Ings¹,

Konings²,

Kumar

et al. 2015

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The Lochranza Field was developed using seismic amplitude analysis, evolving conceptual geological models and the implementation of horizontal well technology, built on the knowledge gained from the adjacent Donan Field redevelopment. Subtle depositional and structural complexities were, however, encountered in the Lochranza development wells. These had the potential to impact on the successful targeting of reservoir sands.Thinning sands and erratic lateral sand pinch-outs at the margins of the deep-water Balmoral Fan complex, small-scale sand injection and subtle structural complexity across the Lochranza Field were identified in the first phase of development. These introduced greater interpretation uncertainty and made further development challenging. This highlighted the importance of considering alternative geological scenarios, whilst these insights aided the identification of infill well opportunities.These uncertainties were partially mitigated by the planned development well trajectory, the data acquisition programme and the ability to geosteer based upon the geology encountered. It proved important to be mindful of different geological scenarios whilst geosteering, guided by the real-time dataset, keeping the 3D geological model peripheral to decision-making to limit the impact of anchoring bias.Identification of infill targets used a pragmatic approach based upon empirical data that showed that well recovery efficiency could be characterized by net pay length, stand-off from the oil–water contact (OWC) and connected hydrocarbon volume. Infill opportunities were defined probabilistically and subsequently supported by 3D reservoir simulation. This assessment was helped significantly by additional appraisal being undertaken as part of development well drilling.

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An old field in a new landscape: the renaissance of Donan

Abstract: The Donan Field was discovered in 1987 by BP well 15/20a-4. Oil is reservoired in Paleocene Lower

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

The Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields, Blocks 15/20a and 15/20b, UK North Sea

The Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields, Blocks 15/20a and 15/20b, UK North Sea

Exploration of upside in a stranded discovery: Lochranza, a Donan Field satellite

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