Andrew oilfield
The Andrew oilfield is a relatively small hydrocarbon field in the UK sector of the North Sea, 230 kilometres (140 mi) North-East of Aberdeen and it is operated by BP. It is produced from a single platform, which is also the hub of the Cyrus and Farragon subsea developments.
Discovery and development
BP originally discovered oil in the Palaeocene rock in block 16/28 of the UKCS in 1974, with further appraisal work conducted by ConocoPhilips the following year. A gas reservoir was also discovered in the Cretaceous rock below the Palaeocene.
At the time, the small size of the field made it uneconomical to develop. It was not until twenty years later when BP put together an alliance of seven contractors to share in the risk of development, including Brown & Root, Santa Fe, Saipem, Highlands Fabricators, Allseas, Emtunga and Trafalgar House.
In 1994, the project was sanctioned and first oil was produced from predrilled wells in 1996.
Reserves
The Andrew is estimated to have 150 million barrels (24×10^6 m3) of liquid hydrocarbons, mostly oil, with some natural gas condensate. The Andrew oil is light with an API gravity of 40°. There is also a gas cap in the Palaeocene reservoir in addition to the lower cretaceous reservoir and the associated gas from the oil. There is estimated to be 245 million cubic feet (6.9×10^6 m3) of recoverable gas, though the lower cretaceous reservoir is not fully appraised.
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