Jan. 2013 - GDF Suez announced Thursday that it has awarded Yokogawa Europe Solutions a contract to supply integrated control and safety systems (ICSS) for the Cygnus development project in the UK North Sea. Under the contract, Yokogawa will supply the complete ICSS comprising the following systems: process control, process shutdown, emergency shutdown, fire and gas detection (complete with associated field devices), process data historian and field device asset management. The company will also supply an operator training system. The ICSS will be distributed across the Cygnus complex, which currently consists of three bridge-connected platforms and a fourth standalone wellhead platform. The Cygnus gas discovery is estimated to hold approximately 635 billion cubic feet of gas.

Dec. 2012 - Steel cutting for the Cygnus Alpha wellhead platform is underway at Heerema Fabrication Group's yard in Hartlepool, England. The 1,600-ton Alpha platform will be the first of four platforms that will service the GDF SUEZ-operated Cygnus field, which is the largest gas discovery in the Southern North Sea in the past 25 years. Heerema is responsible for building and commissioning three of the four platform topsides as well as a compression module for the development. First gas is planned for late 2015.

Nov. 2012 - GDF SUEZ, through its design contractor AMEC, awarded a $1.9 million contract to Proserv to design, engineer and build wellhead control panels for the Alpha and Bravo platforms at the Cygnus project in the UK North Sea. Proserv will also provide an umbilical termination unit that is integral to the control of the isolation valve fitted to the subsea export pipeline. Six of the ten development wells associated with the platforms will be controlled through the initial panel design. Work is already underway on the project and equipment is scheduled for delivery in 2013 and 2014.

Aug. 2012 - Heerema Fabrication Group has received a frame contract from GDF Suez E&P UK for the fabrication and commissioning of four topsides for the Cygnus gas field development in the UK sector of the North Sea. Fabrication of the Cygnus Alpha Wellhead topsides is due to start in December 2012 with completion scheduled for March 2014. This is to be followed by expected commencement of fabrication in June 2013 of the Cygnus Alpha processing & utilities module, bridges and flare as well as the Cygnus Bravo Wellhead topsides -- all scheduled for completion in April 2015. Subsequently in December 2013, the fabrication of the Cygnus Alpha compression module will start, which will also be ready for installation onto the PU topsides in 2015.

Aug. 2012 - AMEC has received a detailed design contract from GDF Suez for the Cygnus gas field development in the UK sector of the North Sea. The detailed design contract, following the FEED work, starts immediately and is scheduled for completion in 2014. The detailed development concept for the Cygnus field consists of two drilling centers, four platforms and initially 10 development wells; the planned export route is through the ETS (Esmond Transportation System) pipeline system to the Bacton gas terminal in North Norfolk. First gas is expected in late 2015.

Aug. 2012 - GDF Suez has officially sanctioned the Cygnus project to develop the sixth largest gas field in the UK sector of the North Sea. The consortium has signed initial contracts, which will kick start the project, and plan to award major contracts soon. Production is expected to start in late 2015. The field is expected to meet demand for nearly one and a half million homes at peak production, accounting for around 5% of the UK's gas production. GDF stated that the partnership welcomed the recent field allowance for new large shallow water gas fields by the UK Government, which proved the certainty and confidence to proceed with the development.

Oct. 2011 - GDF Suez has awarded AMEC a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract for the development of the Cygnus gas field development in the UK sector of the North Sea. The contract includes work on the 'option to continue' into the detailed design and procurement phase. Work will begin immediately and is scheduled for completion in 2012. First gas from Cygnus is planned for 2013. The Cygnus field is located within UKCS Blocks 44/12a and 44/11a. GDF Suez, which holds a 38.75% interest, operates Cygnus; Centrica holds 48.75%; and Endeavour holds the remaining 12.5%.

Aug. 2010 - Bayerngas UK has entered into separate agreements relating to two gas developments. Under the first agreement, Bayerngas will acquire a 25% interest in the Clipper South project from Fairfield Energy. Fairfield will retain a 25% interest, and RWE Dea will remain as operator with a 50% interest. Under the second agreement, Bayerngas will acquire Endeavour Energy's 12.5% interest in the Cygnus project where the partners are GDF Suez (operator, 38.75%), and Venture North Sea (48.75%). Currently, the Cygnus partners are evaluating if the two recent appraisal wells impact the original FDP that was submitted in 2009. First gas from Cygnus is planned for 2013.

Jul. 2010 - A sixth appraisal well has been drilled and tested on the Cygnus gas field, further confirming the find as one of the largest ever discovered in the UK sector of the North Sea. The 44/12a-5 appraisal well achieved a stabilized flow rate of 29 MMcf/d from 94 feet (29 meters) of perforations in the Leman reservoir. Data from the well coupled with seismic interpretation has led to a reserve estimate (in the five appraised fault blocks) ranging from 500 Bcf to 1.2 Tcf of natural gas. Additionally, the Department of Energy and Climate Change awarded the Cygnus field participants interests in license P1731, which covers Blocks 44/11b and 44/12b. This new license contains additional fault blocks forming a northern extension of the Cygnus structure, that are yet to be appraised by drilling. GDF Suez E&P, the operator of the field, is now pursuing an optimized field development concept for Cygnus. The Cygnus field is located within UKCS Blocks 44/12a and 44/11a. Partners on the field include Centrica (48.75%), and Endeavour (12.5%).

Apr. 2010 - Appraisal drilling was concluded in the western area of the Cygnus gas field in Block 44/11a. The successful appraisal drilling has led to an increase in reserves and prospective resource estimates, and the field boundary of Cygnus further extends to the north and to the west than previously thought. Preliminary estimates of the field's reserves and prospective resources may be as high as 2 Tcf of gas based on new data information, making Cygnus one of the largest gas fields ever discovered in the UK sector of the North Sea. The 44/11a-4 well was drilled to a depth of 12,207 feet (3,721 meters) vertically, encountering a high quality, gas-saturated Leman sand reservoir 54 feet (16 meters) high to prognosis with a sand thickness of 130 feet (40 meters) gross and 85 feet (26 meters) of net pay. Following a flow test, the well tested at a rate of 28 MMcf/d. The Cygnus field is located within UKCS Blocks 44/12a and 44/11a. GDF Suez, which holds a 38.75% interest, operates Cygnus; Centrica holds 48.75%; and Endeavour holds the remaining 12.5%.

Aug. 2009 - During the first half of 2009, Venture participated in the drilling of two successful appraisal wells on the Cygnus gas field (Venture - 48.75%). The results from these wells have exceeded pre-drill expectations and proved up the eastern part of the field confirming Cygnus to be one of the largest undeveloped gas fields in the North Sea. The operator, GdF Suez, estimates gross recoverable reserves for the eastern part of the field alone to be approximately 500 Bcf. The Cygnus partnership is pursuing a phased development of the field which could ultimately involve up to six platforms and 16 production wells for the entire field. The operator is proposing to drill two additional appraisal wells in the western part of the field during the first half of 2010.

Apr. 2009 - Venture announced a further successful appraisal well on the Cygnus field, which lies within UKCS blocks 44/12a and 44/11a near the CMS area in the southern North Sea. This well confirmed gas in a third fault block, expanding the potential recoverable reserves on the field. Cygnus comprises both Leman and Carboniferous reservoirs with up to five potential productive fault blocks. A draft field development plan was prepared, which envisages a phased development of the now fully appraised eastern part of the field.

Feb. 2009 - GDF SUEZ and its license partners, Venture Production and Endeavour Energy UK Ltd. announced that appraisal well 44/12a-3 has been a success, further extending the Cygnus Gas Field. The well tested up to 32 mmscf per day. A further appraisal is planned following the completion of this well.

Apr. 2008 - Venture Production has agreed to acquire a package of interests in six proven but undeveloped gas discoveries close to existing infrastructure in the Caister Murdoch System, one of the most important gas export hubs in the southern North Sea. Cygnus (Blocks 44/12a and 44/11a, Venture 35%) is included in this package.

May. 2006 - GDF Britain has made a gas discovery with significant potential upside with the 44/12-2 well on the Cygnus prospect. The field lies some 170 km off the Lincolnshire coast in approximately 20 meters water depth.

Apr. 2006 - Endeavour International says that the Cygnus well located on Block 44/12 in the Southern Gas Basin in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea has reached a total depth of 11,870 feet measured depth (11,564 feet true vertical depth). Operations to test the well are currently underway with full results expected in two to three weeks.