Northern Endurance Partnership prepares to drill first development well

The Northern Endurance Partnership is expected to commence drilling its first of six development wells within the coming fortnight. Michael McGhie, the technical manager for the partnership, confirmed the timeline while addressing delegates at the ONS conference in Norway. He described the upcoming phase as a significant commitment and the expansion stage of the project, noting that the initial exploration work has validated the site’s suitability for carbon dioxide storage.

The Noble Intrepid jack-up rig arrived at the BP-operated Endurance field in February to conduct exploratory drilling. Results from these wells, completed in June, indicated strong potential for the location. McGhie remarked that the first exploration well yielded no oil or gas, which he considered a positive outcome as it confirmed the site was ideal for storing carbon dioxide. The second well is now nearly complete and is ready to transition to the development phase.

Parallel to the offshore drilling preparations, Saipem’s Castorone pipelay vessel has arrived in the United Kingdom to begin laying the 150km of pipe required for the track one carbon capture and storage project. The vessel was previously moored in Stavanger before sailing to UK waters to start operations. Offshore construction for the project began in July at the Port of Hartlepool, with the first sections of pipe arriving at Saipem’s logistics facility last month. This infrastructure is designed to transport gas from projects across Teesside and the Humber to the Endurance saline aquifer.

Geological and archaeological surveys are currently underway to support a final investment decision on the pipeline connecting the shore to the storage site. McGhie stated that the partnership is working closely with the government to build momentum towards this decision. A key technical challenge involves drilling under the River Humber, for which a trial of a four kilometre horizontal directional drill is planned this year to prove the concept for the pipeline route.