Elgin/Franklin is the world’s largest high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) development. This major project, which unitizes two adjacent gas fields, came on stream in 2001. Located in the North Sea, the fields produce condensate and gas for the U.K. and continental European markets. Both have complex geological structures and extreme HP/HT conditions, making them particularly challenging to develop.

Technological Achievements in the North Sea
 
There are several hundred oil and gas fields on the North Sea Continental Shelf, of which 300 in the U.K. sector, where the extreme conditions make developing resources a major industrial, technological and financial challenge.
 
The Franklin gas field was discovered in 1986. Five years later, Total discovered a second high-pressure/high-temperature field, Elgin, six kilometers away. Their nearness to one another made joint development of their reserves a possibility, so in 1995 the project partners reached agreement on a development plan comprising two wellhead platforms—one on each field—tied into a shared processing and export platform.
 
Development was particularly difficult given the geological complexity of the area in which the fields are located:
• Lying more than five kilometers below the seabed, in a water depth of around 90 meters, the reservoirs are the deepest brought on stream in the North Sea to date, while their extreme pressure (1,100 bar) and temperature (190°C) presented an unprecedented technical challenge.
• The sour condensate gas (average carbon dioxide content of 3.5% and up to 40 ppm of hydrogen sulfide) required purpose-designed equipment and an innovative development plan under which commercial gas would be produced on an offshore processing platform.

A Trailblazing, Benchmark Project
 
As Total’s greatest technical challenge to that time, the project required a large number of technological, managerial and commercial innovations. Brought on stream in 2001, by March 2002 the fields achieved peak production of 140,000 barrels of condensate and 485 million cubic feet of gas per day.

In 2003, we further demonstrated our frontier drilling capabilities with a new, record-breaking well from the Elgin/Franklin platform to the West Franklin reservoir—the hottest, highest-pressure reservoir in the world. The well was drilled to a depth of 6,100 meters and stepped out 1.5 kilometers to tap an accumulation with a temperature of 197°C and a pressure of 1,155 bar.
 
In addition to strengthening our position in the North Sea, where we were already a leading oil and gas producer, Elgin/Franklin set new global benchmarks. Technical expertise and innovative capabilities were deployed to overcome the obstacles associated with high-pressure/high-temperature fields, and will make it possible to develop similar reservoirs elsewhere in the world.

A Safe Environment
 
Safety was designed into project facilities from the beginning. A safety case identified all potential risks related to the platform, which were then reduced to as low as reasonably practicable by a broad array of measures.

In addition to dedicated safety programs, 7,000 man-hours of training were provided, including the use of sophisticated simulators.
 
Attractive common areas, comfortable cabins and superior onboard services are among the best available in the offshore industry.