Engie E&P Norge has awarded contracts for feasibility studies for the Cara project (PL 636) in the Norwegian part of the North Sea to TechnipFMC AS and Aker Engineering and Technology AS.

The studies intend to show the potential, challenges and opportunities at an early stage of the development. Specifically, they will consider whether the Cara discovery could be tied-in to existing Gjøa infrastructure through a subsea solution.

“Cara is the second largest oil and gas discovery made on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 2016, with an estimated volume from 40 to 80 million barrels of oil equivalent. The well shows good reservoir properties and potential for higher resources,” says head of Subsurface Raphaël Fillon in Engie E&P Norge.

The Cara well is located 6 kilometres northeast of the Engie E&P operated Gjøa field in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea.

TechnipFMC AS and Aker Engineering and Technology AS will conduct two feasibility studies. The scope of work covers two separate and parallel studies that will identify various subsea solutions for a tie-in of Cara to the Gjøa installation.

The work has started and will be completed in June 2017.

Cara project on track

In accordance with regulatory requirements, the Cara licence recently submitted the Final Well Report and Discovery Evaluation Report to the Norwegian authorities. This means that the project is on schedule for a potential investment process, namely the initial phase of reservoir modelling and identification of possible development solutions (Gate 1).

“Together with our licence partners, we will evaluate the possibility to use existing infrastructure at the nearby Gjøa field. This will reduce both time and costs related to a future development,” says Raphaël Fillon.

The partners of the production licence PL 636 are Engie E&P Norge AS (30% and operator), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge (30%), Tullow Oil Norge AS (20%) and Wellesley Petroleum AS (20%).