|
EnCana lowers Deep Panuke reserves
EnCana keeps pressing ahead with its Deep Panuke natural gas project offshore Nova Scotia despite a sharp downward revision in the expected recoverable gas volumes.
Almost four years after halting the regulatory process, EnCana now estimates the gas pool holds 392 billion to 892 billion cubic feet, with a mean 632 bcf.
Development application documents show the field would take eight to 17.5 years to produce, with the mean case set at 13 years, although a more accurate forecast won’t be possible until production starts.
When Deep Panuke was discovered in the 1990s by PanCanadian Petroleum (one of EnCana’s two founding companies) the recoverable estimate was forecast at close to 1 trillion cubic feet.
EnCana believes production can peak at 300 million cubic feet per day, down 25 percent from the initial estimate.
Facility won’t be designed for expansion It has no plans to design the production facility for capacity expansion.
A coordinated review by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board and the National Energy Board started Nov. 27, with a regulatory decision expected in the third quarter of 2007, allowing EnCana to make a final decision by year-end 2007.
In addition to the project application, pipeline plans could see EnCana build a 110 mile line to onshore Nova Scotia for delivery to customers in Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States, or build a nine-mile pipeline to tie in with the existing Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline that carries gas from the nearby Sable field.
EnCana is in discussions with owners of the Sable pipeline which has unused capacity, but believes there are advantages to building its own pipeline at a cost of C$234 million.
—Gary Park
| 