"HELM" PROJECT

HALK EL MENZEL

Halk El Menzel Project presentation

  • The block covers an offshore area of 570 km2 in the gulf of Hammamet in northern Tunisia, a significant petroleum province. Water depth is 76 meters, and the field lies approximately 70 kilometers northeast of the city of Monastir.
  • The initial discovery at HELM, in the Lower Miocene Ain Grab/Ketana reservoir, was made by the HEL-1 well that was drilled by Elf in 1977, and was followed by one appraisal well, HEL-4 in 1979.
  • The concession “Halk El Menzel” originally granted on  January 20, 1979 was terminated with effective date of December 31, 2009 and now re-awarded to TOPIC with option of 50% to ETAP for a period of up to December 31, 2039 by the signing of a convention dated July 29, 2019 which was approved by a law voted on July 31, 2019 and published under law 74/2019 on August 14, 2019.

Field Development Plan

Halk el Menzel (HELM) is a marginal offshore oilfield. Reserves as identified do not economically justify permanent fixed installations. It is therefore proposed that the field be developed by a mobile system. The development of the field started in 2017 with the installation of the Well Head Platform and the Mobile Offshore Drilling and Production Unit (MODPU). The Floating Storage and Offloading tanker (FSO), connected to the MODPU through a subsea pipeline, ensures storage and offloading of the stabilized crude oil.

Tunisian Offshore and onshore Petroleum and Industrial Contractors
Tunisian Offshore and onshore Petroleum and Industrial Contractors

Installation Activity

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Drilling Activities

  • The drilling activity in HELM field started in 2018 with the drilling of three development wells HELM5, HELM6 and HELM7. The three wells reached the top of the reservoir. Then, the project was put on standby starting from September 2018.
  • The drilling activity resumed in October 2020 with the drilling of the reservoir section of HELM6. The well encountered several issues and decision was made to move to the drilling of the reservoir section of well HELM7 and come back to well HELM6 when necessary, equipment to sidetrack the well will be available.
  • The drilling of the reservoir section of well HELM7 started in December 2020. The well showed the evidence of very good reservoir quality and presence of oil in the short-drilled section. The upper completion equipped with ESP was consequently run and the well was put on production on January 07th 2021 (First Oil).
  • The drilling of the reservoir section of well HELM5 started in June 2021 in SIMOPS. The well was put on production on August 13th, 2021.
  • The sidetrack of well HELM6 (HELM6ST) started in August 2021. The well was put on production on September 16th, 2021.

PRODUCTION FACILITY

Wells

  • Three producing wells
  • Wells are non-naturally flowing
  • Artificial lift is provided using electrical submersible pumps.

Water Treatment

  • Deoiling: Liquid-liquid Hydrocyclones
  • Polishing: Induced Gas Floatation Unit
  • Produced water is disposed overboard

Oil Treatment

  • Free water knock-out: Three Phase Separator
  • Heating up to 90°C: Electrical Heater
  • Dehydration: Electrostatic Coalescer
  • Oil is exported toward the FSO located via 6 inches subsea export line

Produced Gas

  • Two Stage degassing vessels
  • Produced gas is collected and flared
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