Alwyn Area

ALWYN/DUNBAR

2

TOTAL E&P UK PLC is one of the largest oil and gas operators in the

North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the TOTAL Group, an international energy

company, which is headquartered in Paris and has operations in

130 countries.

The Group’s operations cover the entire oil and gas chain – oil and gas

exploration and production, trading and shipping, refining and marketing,

as well as chemicals. It employs more than 110,000 people worldwide.

The UK upstream subsidiary, TOTAL E&P UK, which has its headquarters

in Europe’s oil capital, Aberdeen, is one of the largest operators in the UK

sector of the North Sea in terms of production and reserves.

The company employs some 600 people. As an international business,

TOTAL E&P UK adds value through a mix of both local and expatriate staff.

TOTAL E&P UK owns and operates the Alwyn North, Dunbar, Ellon, Grant,

Nuggets and Otter Fields in the Northern North Sea. In addition, it is

operator of the Elgin and Franklin Fields in the Central Graben Area.

The company has a number of non-operated interests in the Central and

Northern North Sea including Bruce, ETAP, Alba, Armada and Nelson and

has an interest in the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in Shetland.

Onshore, TOTAL E&P UK operates the St Fergus Gas Terminal on the

northeast coast of Scotland, which receives and processes up to 15 per

cent of the UK's natural gas requirements from some 20 fields in the UK

and Norway.

It owns 100 per cent of the terminal’s UK facilities and 50 per cent of its

Common Facilities including those on the MCP-01 platform; the remainder

of the plant is owned by the Norwegian association, Gassled.

The company (and/or its affiliate) has a 100 per cent interest in the UK Frigg

pipeline. It also has an interest in the SEAL (Shearwater Elgin Area Line)

pipeline through E.F. Oil and Gas Limited (EFOG), owned 77.5 per cent by

Elf Exploration UK PLC and 22.5 per cent by Gaz de France; EFOG has a

25.73 per cent share in SEAL.

The TOTAL Group has a 10 per cent shareholding in Interconnector (UK)

Limited, the company which owns and operates the Gas Interconnector

between Bacton and Zeebrugge.

The Company

3

4

TOTAL E&P UK conducts all its activities taking into account the safety of

people and property, the preservation of natural resources and the

protection of the environment. Our objective is an accident-free workplace

and ‘Think Safety First’ is the watchword for all our operations, both

onshore and offshore.

We set measurable safety, health and environmental objectives and

continually strive to improve our performance, taking steps to make certain

all employees and contractors are equipped to do so. We develop,

maintain and test emergency plans and help raise industry standards by

consulting and working with partners, suppliers, competitors, regulators

and the public.

We endeavour to create a positive culture for the advancement of safety,

health and environmental issues by encouraging a spirit of openness and

co-operation. Our performance is reviewed and audited. Those who

contribute to improvement are recognised and it is an important element

of performance evaluation for all employees, particularly those with

management responsibilities.

In 2002 TOTAL E&P UK was awarded company-wide registration to

ISO 14001, the international Environmental Management System

standard. This is recognised throughout the world as a mark of ‘good

business practice’ and as a genuine commitment to sustainable

development. TOTAL is proud of this achievement, and through the

maintenance of its management system, aims to continue to improve its

environmental performance.

Safety, Health and Environment

5

The Alwyn Area lies in the UK sector of the North Sea

160 kilometres east of the Shetland Islands and 440 kilometres

north-east of Aberdeen. It comprises five fields – Alwyn North,

Dunbar, Ellon, Grant and Nuggets. Collectively the fields

produce some 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

Alwyn North is the hub of the Alwyn Area and the support

centre for the neighbouring fields. It supplies them with power

and water while simultaneously receiving water and gas via a

network of subsea cables and pipelines.

The Alwyn Area typifies how, through innovation and

technological developments, North Sea oil and gas fields can be

extended far beyond original estimates. Technological

developments are making it viable to develop small, previously

uneconomic accumulations, often discovered decades ago,

through the infrastructure of long-established fields.

The fields developed around Alwyn North have made maximum

use of the existing infrastructure – the Alwyn North platform, the

Frigg Transportation System and the St Fergus Gas Terminal.

Alwyn Area

6

7

8

The History

3/10b-1P & AP & AP & A P & A

STATFJORD PANEL

Dep

th (

met

res)

GDT

GWC

OWC

N20 N37 3/9a-2 N10 3/9a-5 N22 N33

Upper Cretaceous

B.C.U.

Kimm. Clay Fm.

Heather

Tarbert

Dunlin

Statfjord

Dunlin

Tarbert

Statfjord

Dunlin

Triassic

Triassic

Kimm. Clay Fm.

Heather

Dunlin

BRENT NORTH WEST PANEL BRENT EAST PANEL

TRIASSIC MAIN PANEL

OWC

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

55005500

5000

4500

4000

3500

3000

Lower CretaceousCromer Knoll Group

West East

Upper CretaceousShetland Group

Ness

Ness

OWC Oil Water ContactGDT Gas Down ToGWC Gas Water Contact

0 Kms 10

Exploration licences for the Alwyn Area were granted in 1965 and drillingstarted in 1971. Within a year the Dunbar, Ellon and Grant fields had beendiscovered but at that time they were not economic prospects.

Four years later the Alwyn North Field was discovered. Its complexgeological structure meant that extensive and expensive evaluation wasrequired. Five separate compartments were found – Statfjord containinggas with condensate, and Brent North, Brent North West, Brent East andBrent South West with oil.

In 1980 technological advances made a three-dimensional seismic surveypossible and provided the additional information to allow the completion, in1982, of a £1,500 million plan to develop Alwyn North including the Brentand Statfjord reservoirs. Production started in 1987.

The most southerly reservoir, Brent South West, was developedindependently as a subsea satellite – the Alwyn North Extension – andwas brought onstream in 1992. A year later the Alwyn North Triassicreservoir was discovered beneath the original discoveries.

Around £700 million was then spent on developing the Dunbar Field to makemaximum use of the Alwyn North platforms, the Frigg TransportationSystem and the St Fergus Gas Terminal to which gas is exported. Dunbarcame onstream in 1994 and in turn made its satellite fields, Ellon and Granteconomically viable. They started production in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

In 1999 improvements to the gas plant on Alwyn North were completed.This increased processing capacity on the platform and enabled thedevelopment of the nearby Nuggets Fields.

9

Alwyn North consists of two platforms linked by a 73-metre bridge, which

sits 31 metres above the water. The platforms stand in 126 metres of

water. North Alwyn A (NAA) is the drilling and accommodation platform.

North Alwyn B (NAB) houses the processing facilities.

Separating the drilling and treatment facilities offered numerous

advantages with safety the most important consideration. However it

also allowed NAA, with its four-legged steel jacket, to be installed and to

begin drilling operations in 1986. This was a full year before NAB, which

has an eight-legged steel jacket, was ready.

The bridge is the passage for the crew to walk between the two

installations and the link between the drilling and well facilities on NAA

and the process facilities on NAB. Untreated oil and gas cross the bridge

from NAA to be processed ready for export by pipeline.

It also carries the links for the systems that are common to both platforms –

electrical power, fire and gas control, emergency shut-down system,

process control and telecommunications.

Alwyn North was innovative in that two platforms were built for greater

safety. A further key safety feature on NAA is a thick blast wall protecting

the high pressure module from the accommodation area.

There are seven 58-man lifeboats on NAA and four 58-man lifeboats on

NAB, more than enough to cope with the maximum number onboard.

The platform has been designed to withstand winds of more than

160 kilometres an hour and 30 metre waves, the kind of conditions it may

occasionally have to face in the hostile North Sea.

Alwyn North

110

TOTAL E&P UK makes every effort to ensure that those who live

and work on the Alwyn North platform are as safe and

comfortable as possible during their stay.

There are 108 cabins on NAA, each with two or three beds. Each

cabin has its own toilet and shower facilities and a TV with

satellite channels. All the accommodation is contained within a

safe refuge area, which has been designed to withstand every

sort of emergency to allow the crew time to reach the lifeboats

and safety.

The platform has a 70-seat cinema, a gymnasium, an open

recreation area and a quiet room. In addition to the communication

systems that allow operational staff to contact the team

onshore, there are public telephones for the crew to keep in

touch with their families.

Mail and newspapers are sent on days when there are helicopter

flights. Other supplies and equipment are normally dispatched by

boat from Aberdeen, a journey that takes around a day.

The restaurant, with a plentiful supply of good food, is a lively

and sociable centre of life onboard the platform

Life Offshore Alwyn

11

The Dunbar Field is situated around

22 kilometres south of Alwyn North. It was

discovered in 1973 and came onstream in 1994

as production from Alwyn North reached its

plateau. The field produces around 70,000

barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The Dunbar platform sits in 145 metres of water.

It has a four-legged jacket 167 metres high and

safety was the primary concern when it was

designed. Its two 45-man freefall lifeboats are

located in the protected environment of a

safe refuge area, which also contains the

control room. They are as far as possible from

the platform’s hazardous areas and are

protected by blast walls.

The platform is manned by a core crew of 21

although a new accommodation module,

installed in 2002, provides bed space for up to

60 persons.

The development of Dunbar made the Ellon and

Grant satellite fields, discovered in 1973 and

1977 respectively, viable. These subsea

developments, located around nine kilometres

from Dunbar are linked to the Dunbar platform

by flowlines and control umbilicals. Ellon was

started up in 1994 and Grant four years later.

When at plateau production the fields produce

around 17,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Dunbar/Ellon/Grant

12

Keeping costs to the minimum safe level has been crucial in the

development of Dunbar and innovative ways have had to be found to

maintain production. Two multiphase pumps are examples of such

innovation. Housed in a 650-tonne module on Dunbar and installed at a

cost of £54.5 million, they are the biggest pumps of their kind in the world.

As the field matures and the well pressure drops, increasing quantities of

water have to be pumped into the well to maintain pressure. The pumps

boost production for Dunbar, and its two satellites Ellon and Grant, by

keeping the pressure of the oil, water and gas consistent without the need

for the three being separated for treatment. Each pump can accommodate

around 40,000 barrels of liquid and 1.5 to 3.5 million cubic metres of

gas per day.

The oil and gas from the two subsea satellites Ellon and Grant arrive at

Dunbar through six-inch flowlines with all operations at the subsea

wellheads controlled through two umbilicals. The gas from Dunbar, Ellon

and Grant goes to Alwyn North for processing before joining the Frigg

Transportation System and being sent onto the St Fergus Gas Terminal

near Peterhead. Oil is exported to the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in Shetland.

Dunbar Innovation

13

The Nuggets Field lies around 20 kilometres south of Dunbar and

was discovered between 1972 and 1991. It is a development of four

gas-bearing accumulations – N1 with two wells and N2, N3 and N4

with one well each. The five wells produce around 36,600 barrels of

oil equivalent per day.

The five isolated subsea wells that make up the Nuggets cluster are

tied back via subsea pipelines to the Alwyn North platform, but

controlled via the Dunbar platform. From Alwyn North, Nuggets’ gas

is exported via the Frigg line to the St Fergus Gas Terminal for

processing and distribution.

N1, N2 and N3 began production in November 2001. N4, which is

tied back via a 13-kilometre subsea pipeline to the N3 manifold,

came onstream in October 2003. At a total length of 67 km, the

Nuggets N4 tieback is the longest in the UK sector of the North Sea.

The Nuggets Cluster

The Otter Field

The Otter Field lies 150 kilometres north east of Shetland, in a

water depth of 182 metres making it one of the most northerly and

deepest subsea tiebacks in the North Sea. First oil flowed in

October 2002; the plateau production rate is around 30,000 barrels

of oil per day.

The development, which is tied back to Shell’s Eider platform,

comprises five subsea wells – three oil producers and two water

injectors. Oil is exported to the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in Shetland

via the Brent system while gas is exported to the St Fergus Gas

Terminal via the FLAGS pipeline system.

Otter is a prime example of how technical innovation and

commercial effectiveness within the oil and gas industry can unlock

the stranded reserves of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The

development of Otter not only adds new reserves but also extends

the life of field of Eider.

DunbarAlwyn North

Ellon

Grant

Nuggets N1

NGBNuggets N1

NGA Nuggets N1Manifold

Nuggets N3Manifold Nuggets N3

NGD

Nuggets N2

NGC

Eider CormorantNorth Tern

Magnus 20'' EOR Pipeline

Otter Template Manifold

(4 well)

Water Injection Well

Umbilical

10'' Water

Injection Pipeline

10'' Production Pipeline

3 ES

P Pow

er Cables

Nuggets N4

NGE

Water Injection from Tern2 way power cable

Production lin

e to

North Corm

orant

(EOR – Enhanced Oil Recovery)

29/6a

30/4a

29/9a

30/7a

30/7

30/10a

Total

Total

Total

Total

Total

Total

Total

Total

TotalTotal

Total

Total

Total

3/9c

3/10c

ALWYNNORTH

DUNBAR

ELLON

GRANT

HILD

N1

N3

N2

N40 5Kms

FORVIENORTH

Total

Total

NUGGETS

LEGEND

Gas PipelineOil Pipeline

Condensate Field

Gas Field

Oil Field

Total Operated Block

01° 36�E 02° 00�E

7b

60°

50�

N60

° 2

0�N

60°

40�

N

14

7

An exploration well spudded in February 2002 led to a new discovery in the

Alwyn Area – Forvie North in Block 3/15, 440 kilometres north-east of

Aberdeen. The gas and condensate find lies 16 kilometres from the Dunbar

platform and 33 kilometres from the Alwyn North platform.

This discovery strengthens the company’s activities in the Northern North

Sea and endorses TOTAL’s strategy to apply selective criteria to exploration

prospects in the mature UKCS. Studies are underway to develop Forvie

North, which in tests showed the well to flow at a rate of one million cubic

metres of gas and 1,400 barrels of condensate per day.

TOTAL E&P UK continues to prolong the life of field and maximise ultimate

recovery of oil and gas reserves in the Alwyn Area by investing in new

technology. For example, the multiphase pumps on Dunbar, miscible gas

injection and infill drilling on Alwyn North, and the development of the cluster

of Nuggets Fields.

Such initiatives are helping to extend the life of the Alwyn Area far beyond

original estimates. In addition, TOTAL E&P UK’s discovery of Forvie North in

2002 assures further development of the Alwyn Area and maximum use of

the existing infrastructure.

The Future

15

Ownership Interests

ALWYN AREATOTAL E&P UK PLC 100%

OTTERTOTAL E&P UK PLC (operator) 54.296%

Dana Petroleum (E & P) Ltd 19.004%

Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited 13.350%

Shell UK Ltd 13.350%

FORVIE NORTHTOTAL E&P UK PLC 100%

Photography by Borowski Photography LtdDesign by Mearns & Gill, Aberdeen

Copyright © TOTAL E&P UK PLC 2004.All rights reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the copyright holder.

Printed on Revive Silk paper, a recyclable, bio-degradable and NAPM approved recycled grade.

TOTAL E&P UK PLCCrawpeel Road, Altens, Aberdeen AB12 3FGTel: +44 (0) 1224 297000 Fax: +44 (0) 1224 298999

www.uk.total.com