Total E&P UK is planning to create a new UK central North Sea asset by combining its new ultra-high-pressure, high-temperature Culzean development with its existing Elgin-Franklin project, writes Rob Watts.

The move, due to happen around the end of the year, will involve the merger of the two existing onshore teams and will be less noticeable offshore, officials said.

Total said the intention is to create greater efficiency and enable more sharing of expertise, particularly about the subsurface and HPHT exploration and production operations.

Differences between Culzean and Elgin-Franklin — Culzean is a dry-gas development and Elgin’s gas is less dry, while both platforms also have different export routes and, as a result, operate in different ways — means the changes will have less impact operationally offshore.

Culzean project director Claus Vissing-Jorgensen says it makes “good sense” to work across both areas “to find new opportunities”.

“It’s not just about production. There are a lot of synergies in combining into one asset, particularly [about] the subsurface. It makes good sense to start looking across the reservoirs to find new opportunities, to have the same expertise,” he said.

Total E&P UK is the largest producer of oil and gas in the UK, with equity production in 2018 of about 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Total E&P UK managing director Jean-Luc Guiziou, said Total continues to place the UK and North Sea at the heart of its global strategy.

“Despite some uncertainties because of Brexit, we still see the UK as an important investment location for our upstream oil and gas business,” he told an industry conference in Aberdeen last week.

The company employs about 1100 people, 475 of whom work offshore.

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Plans to create single-asset merger with Elgin-Franklin