DB, not sure exactly what you are puzzled about, sorry if my response is unclear.
Whilst I understand what you mean, in that more wells should equal more production, its actually not the case for most fields. As a field matures, or is continually produce from, there are either two ways to ensure production continues. Either find another field to produce from, or, in the case of Bauer, undertake infill drilling, or development wells, which have a dual purpose, to test and hopefully prove up a further extension of the field, while also allowing production from a new well that many access parts of the field that would otherwise have been left untapped. Also, the current well flow rates do decline because as the field empties, the natural pressure lowers the oil flow, although pumps could and probably will be installed later (if they have not already been done, but I don't recollect any mention of pumps)..
Logically all the wells in the Bauer field could be put onto production, but there are many reasons why this will not occur, the one I understand to be most pertinent is that of field integrity. Basically, to make sure the field produces at an even consistency and to allow for drainage and also to manage the water cut as precisely as possible.
If you are talking about the average life of an oil field, in the case of Bauer, I see it producing for many years to come, albeit, not at current levels for more than perhaps 18 months, after that, the field will obviously contain less oil, hence less production.
In regards to the pipeline, I can again only give my view.
Pipeline increase would allow for greater flow rates, which the field is capable of, but for now, will not occur simply because the capacity is not there.
If you are saying that the only reason they are upgrading the Bauer water processing facility is to allow for greater production, then I have to disagree, as I understand it, both BPT and DLS expected to deal with increasing amount of water in the production mix.
As for theoretically doubling the production from the field, it may be possible, but for now, we do not know if it is cost effective, and as I mentioned above, it may alter the amount of oil recoverable. Finally, the cost of building the extra pipeline may not be worth doing if production is only going to increase for say example 1 year. I will say that if other fields are found and further appraisal and development wells are successful, then PEL 91 may yet surprise on the upside.
DLS Price at posting:
$1.59 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
