Paris, 07/09/2010 Total Share price
About us and what we do
Total E&P Nederland is a subsidiary of Total S.A., which is engaged in all aspects of the oil and gas industry, including upstream operations (oil and gas exploration, development and production, LNG) and downstream operations (refining, marketing and the trading and shipping of crude oil and petroleum products).Total E&P Nederland has been engaged in the exploration and production of natural gas in the Netherlands and the North Sea Continental Shelf since 1964. In the Dutch sector of the North Sea, gas is produced from 21 platforms and two subsea production installations. Most of the platforms are unmanned and remotely operated; four have gas treatment facilities. After treatment, the gas flows through a network of pipelines to GasTerra (the former Gasunie Trade & Supply) onshore. The offshore production centres are located between 80 and 150 kilometres northwest of Den Helder. The Central Control Room in the head office in The Hague monitors the process of all the installations and is manned 24 hours a day. Helicopters and supply vessels are used to transport personnel and goods.
The company is a major gas producer in the Netherlands, with an annual production of approximately 6 billion m3, or around 13% of Dutch domestic consumption. Total E&P Nederland has 273 permanent employees and indirectly provides work for at least a further 800 people.
Total S.A. also produces base chemicals (petrochemicals and fertilizers) and specialty chemicals for the industrial and consumer markets. In addition, Total has interests in the coal mining and power generation sector. Total employs more than 95,000 people in 130 countries. Together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, Total is the fourth largest publicly traded integrated oil and gas company in the world.
History
- 1964 Company established under the name Petroland N.V.
- 1971 Start of onshore gas production following Leeuwarden permit.
- 1973 First gas discoveries on the Dutch Continental Shelf.
- 1977 Start of offshore gas production in L7 block and at the treating centre in Middenmeer.
- 1983 Start-up of L4A platform.
- 1984 Award of Zuidwal permit.
- 1985 Start-up of L7A and L4B, the first unmanned platforms on the Dutch Continental Shelf.
- 1988 Start-up of Zuidwal, Oosterend and Leeuwarden West fields and L7N platform;
drilling from Zuidwal platform of the first three horizontal gas wells in the world. - 1989 Start-up of L7H platform.
- 1992 NOGAT system commissioned;
start-up of K6 treating centre, K6D and K6DN platforms. - 1993 Start-up of F15A platform.
- 1994 Start-up of K5 treating centre and K5A and K5D platforms.
- 1995 Start-up of K5B platform.
- 1997 Start-up of K5EN/C platform and K4aD subsea well.
- 1998 Start-up of first fields following Gorredijk permit.
- 1999 Start-up of L4PN and K6GT platforms.
- 2001 Merger with Total Oil and Gas Nederland B.V. to become TotalFinaElf E & P Nederland B.V.;
start-up of K4BE platform. - 2003 New company name: Total E&P Nederland B.V.
- 2004 Sale of onshore production licences to Vermilion Energy;
launch of L4G project. - 2005 Successful drilling of K5EC-5, the longest extended-reach well in the Netherlands;
preparing for K5F development. - 2006 Start-up L4G subsea development well.
- 2007 Merger of the Den Helder office with the head office in The Hague;
K5F development ongoing. - 2008 Acquisition of Goal Petroleum (Netherlands) B.V.;
start-up of the K5F subsea wells using world's first all-electrically subsea wellheads and Xmas trees;
approval of the K5CU project.
Extraction of natural gas
How is gas produced? The first step is to shoot seismic. This reconnaissance work is followed by drilling and well testing. If an economically producible amount of gas is discovered, a gas production installation will be installed and pipelines laid for transport of the gas. The company can then proceed with production, treatment and supply of the gas to the customer. When production comes to an end, the installation is dismantled.Seismic
Gas is stored in strata of porous rock. In the Netherlands, this kind of rock is to be found between 2000 and 4000 metres beneath the earth?s surface. Not everywhere of course: in certain rock structures, there is more chance of discovering gas than in others. Reconnaissance of the rock is done by generating vibrations through the earth?s crust and collecting the data reflected back. This is called seismic. Onshore, small amounts of explosives are often used to create the vibrations. In built-up areas, the seismic vibrations are generated by lorries equipped with vibrating plates. At sea, specially designed vessels are used for generating the seismic vibrations.Different rock reflects the vibrations in different, specific ways. Extremely sensitive sensors pick up the reverberations. The depth of the rock is deducted from the time between the shock and reception of the return signal. Computers translate the data into legible maps of the underground.
Based on these maps, the geophysicists of Total E&P Nederland set about exploring for structures which may contain gas. There can however be no certainty as to whether a rock does in fact contain gas until an exploration well has been drilled and provided the proof.
Exploration well
A drilling installation or rig has to be installed temporarily to drill a test or exploration well. The method is roughly the same whether onshore or offshore. A rotating drill bit bores into the underground. The resulting cuttings are extracted by the continuous pumping of a fluid into the borehole. After purification, this so-called drilling mud can be used again. A steel pipe is inserted into the borehole to ensure that the well does not collapse and to protect the wall of the borehole. The drilling mud also exerts counter pressure should a gas-bearing layer of rock be drilled.Depending on the depth and the nature of the underground, it can take from three weeks to three months to drill a well. When the desired layer of rock has been reached, a special drill bit is used to take samples of the rock. Electrical measurements are taken in the borehole and laboratory analyses of the rock samples will then indicate whether or not gas is present and if so of what quality.
Production test
A production test is designed to provide a clear picture of the production capacity and the size of the reservoir. This is done by permitting the gas to exit freely from the well and taking measurements. For safety reasons, the gas is burned immediately in a flare. It takes an average of a week to test an exploration well.Production
If an economically producible amount of gas is discovered, more wells will in most cases be drilled to permit optimal production of the reserves (the so-called development wells). In the North Sea, the wells are connected up to production platforms. All the production sites are connected by pipeline to the gas treatment platforms.During treatment of the gas, the gas vapour is extracted and purified. The gas is then brought to the required pressure for injection into the pipeline network for transport ashore.
PICTURE GALLERY
