The Pecan oilfield development plan was submitted in March 2019. Image courtesy of Aker Energy.
The Maersk Viking deep-water drillship was used during the Pecan oilfield appraisal. Image courtesy of Aker Energy.
Maersk Drilling was awarded the drilling contract for the Pecan oilfield appraisal in September 2018. Image courtesy of Aker Energy.

Pecan oil field is an ultra-deep water  field planned to be developed in 2,667m-deep waters in the Gulf of Guinea, offshore Ghana. Estimated to contain up to 334 million barrels of oil-equivalent, it represents the biggest discovery in the deep-water Tano Three Points (DWT/TP) block within the Tano Basin.

The development partners of the DWT/TP block include Aker Energy (50%), Lukoil (38%),  Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (10%), and Fueltrade (2%).

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Aker Energy became the operator of the block by acquiring 50% stake from Hess for $100m in June 2018.

Aker Energy and its partners submitted an integrated Plan of Development and Operations (PDO) for the Pecan oil field development in March 2019.

The deep-water offshore field is proposed to be developed with an estimated investment of $4.4bn and is expected to be brought on stream by the end of 2021. The field’s plateau production rate  is forecasted at 110,000 barrels of oil a day (bopd).

Pecan oil field location, discovery, and appraisal

Situated 166km to the south-west of Takoradi in Ghana, the Pecan oil field was discovered by Hess in December 2012. Drilled to a depth of 15,420ft with the use of Stena DrillMAX drillship, the Pecan-1 exploration well encountered 245ft of net oil pay.

Pecan-1 was the fifth discovery in the DWT/TP block, following the Almond (53ft net oil pay), Beech (146ft net oil pay), Hickory North (98ft net gas condensate pay), and Paradise (120ft net oil pay and 295ft net gas condensate pay).

The Cob and Pecan North discoveries subsequently made on the block in 2013 witnessed 31ft and 40ft of net oil pay, respectively.

Aker Energy further appraised the Pecan field with the drilling of the Pecan-4A, Pecan South-1A, and the Pecan South East appraisal wells along with a sidetrack in Pecan South between January and April 2019. Maersk Viking deep-water drillship was used for carrying out appraisal drilling on the field.

The total oil resources in the block were estimated to be up to 550 million metric barrels of oil-equivalent (Mmboe), as of April 2019.

Pecan oil field development details

Pecan will be the oil field to be developed in the DWT/TP block. It is planned to be developed with a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel tied-back to a subsea production system (SPS), which will comprise a total of 26 subsea wells, including 14 oil producer wells and 12 water and gas injector wells.

Multi-phase pumps are proposed to be used as artificial lift to maximise oil production at the field.

The Pecan FPSO facility is also proposed to be used as a production platform for other discoveries on the field, in future.

Contractors involved

Aker Energy, on behalf of the DWT/CTP license partners, awarded contracts for the Pecan field appraisal drilling campaign to Maersk Drilling, PMD Viking Ghana, Halliburton Ghana and Exceed Well Management Ghana, in September 2018.

The main drilling contract was awarded to Maersk Drilling, while PMD Viking Ghana provided local services support for the drilling operation.

Exceed Well Management Ghana provided well design and management services, while Halliburton Ghana provided drilling support and well services to Aker Energy.

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