IOR award 2003: the NPD's award for improved oil recovery goes to Valhall
13/01/2004 The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's IOR award for 2003 goes to Valhall Unit and the operating company BP for their "Life of Field Seismic" project on the Valhall field.
By Øyvind Midttun
The "Life of Field" system installed on the Valhall field last summer is the world's first full-scale system for lifetime seismic. A total of 9,500 sensors linked to 120 kilometers of cable are spread over an area covering 35 square kilometers.
The system will provide the owners of Valhall Unit, led by the operating company BP, with enhanced knowledge about the reservoir, safer and more cost-effective drilling and improved access to the remaining reserves.
The Valhall field reservoirs still hold about 88 million Sm3 of oil which the license expects to produce. When Valhall commenced operations in 1982, the license estimated that the field contained 39 million Sm3 of recoverable oil reserves. Today the oil reserves are estimated at 167 million Sm3, four times as much as was expected when production started.
On the Norwegian shelf, Valhall is the field that has experienced the largest percentage increase in reserves since production got underway.
After 21 years, only half of the commercially recoverable oil reserves have been produced. The field owners continue to envisage a growth in reserves and an extended lifetime far beyond the current license period which expires in 2028.
"With the IOR award, the NPD wants to praise the field owners for their commitment to a project involving large up-front investments to optimize reservoir exploitation on the Valhall field. The project is unique, and stands as a promising measure that will contribute to optimizing oil recovery on Valhall. The owners of the field, led by the operator, deserve praise for their willingness to take risks and ability to make decisions. Large investments have been made in advance of the project and they were willing to take a chance on the additional volumes the system can provide.
The NPD is confident that this method could have a positive potential for many other fields, both in Norway and abroad," according to the jury's evaluation.
"Having the LoFS project receive the IOR award is a very pleasant surprise," says Information Manager Olav Fjellså in BP Norge.
The jury for the 2003 IOR award was composed of Rolf Wiborg, Steinar Njå, Jan Bygdevoll and Kirsti Veggeland. Read the jury's evaluation here.
Take a look at the former winners of the IOR award.
Contact in the NPD:
Information Adviser Eldbjørg Vaage Melberg, tel. 51 87 61 00
Updated: 04/09/2009