Magnus jacket takes heavy honors

Journal Article · Sat May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Offshore; (United States)

OSTI ID:6424954

The North Sea's largest steel jacket has been piled-in on the Magnus field, the deepest and most northerly development yet undertaken in European waters. While it is inevitable that Magnus will lose its distinction of being Europe's deepest commercial field, there may never be a heavier steel jacket installed in the region. Exploiting the Magnus field in 612 ft of water is costing British Petroleum (BP), which holds 100% rights to the license, a total of $2.5 billion. In spite of recoverable oil reserves being 565 million bbl, the high cost of the development means that Magnus will only generate a 15.3% rate of return. Magnus then is little better than a marginal economic prospect and arguably might not have been developed were BP not able to offset the investment against high taxes on its prolific Forties field. Consequently, it is difficult to conceive of any future find in deeper European water being developed economically using a conventional steel jacket platform concept. The costs involved and the development of new technology such as the tension leg platform will probably insure Magnus hangs on comfortably to the tag of the largest steel jacket in Europe.

• OSTI ID: 6424954
• Journal Information: Offshore; (United States), Journal Name: Offshore; (United States) Vol. 42:5; ISSN OFSHA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ATLANTIC OCEAN
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DESIGN
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
EUROPE
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NORTH SEA
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
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UNITED KINGDOM
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