Cornerstone first development – Joplin gas discovery, UK Southern gas basin
Low cost, low risk, development ready asset close to existing, new developments. Joplin is a standout development for the North Sea, capable of producing 35mmscf/d in it’s first year.
Having been drilled and tested by three separate wells between 1974 and 2002, all of which proved the potential of the field to produce meaningful, profitable gas, the subsurface of Joplin, previously known as Artemis, is well known.
Joplin History
Recognised by EON
Before relinquishing the licence after being acquired by Premier, EON bid a firm well to drill the licence noting:
- similar reservoir quality to Babbage and therefore is expected to flow with sub-horizontal fracced wells
- Min 98 Bcf – ML 142 Bcf – Max 197 Bcf with GCoS of 100%
Unlocked by technology
Having considered what previous wells have discovered, Cornerstone, along with other third-parties have generated a series of frac designs for Joplin which have allowed for the upscaling of the well performance proven by BG in 2002.
A modern day approach to perforating length, fluids and frac designs have led to the conclusion that the frac performance can be significantly increased, which has led to Cornerstones development strategy which could realise and NPV10 of over $89m and an IRR of 43%/th.
NO NEW ABOVE-GROUND INFRASTRUCTURE, NO FLARING; LOW CARBON PRODUCTION.
The Joplin development will comprise of a3 Well Subsea Development with facilities for 1 future well or field tie-back.
In addition, export will be via 8” Export pipeline to Tolmount Platform which is approximately 13 Km from Joplin.
The development CAPEX for Joplin, including contingency is expected to be around £130m.
Focused On Emission Reduction
In 2020 the UK imported 46% of its natural gas – 42% of which was from LNG with a carbon intensity of 65 to 140 kg CO2/boe, significantly above the North Sea average of 25 kg CO2/boe.
UK Natural Gas Sources and Carbon Intensity
At Cornerstone, we are focused on making Joplin as efficient and low-carbon as possible and plan for the Development of Joplin Gas Field to focus on emissions reduction and offset higher carbon intensity LNG imports.
Through this strategy, we expect Joplin’s operational carbon intensity expected to be well below the UKCS average.
Cornerstone is continuing to evaluate every part of the development to reduce energy and emissions intensity wherever practical, including for drilling and completions operations.
| New Development Options | Lower Emissions Options for Joplin Development | |
| Fabrication of new dedicated platform |  | Tie into existing modern, unmanned host production facility |
| In-field dispersed well configuration | | Single surface location, subsea tie-back to production facility |
| Fabrication of new dedicated pipeline | | Shorter pipeline tie-back to host facility |