Field developments
15/01/2014 Four plans for development and operation (PDOs) have been approved in 2013: three in the North Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea.
North Sea
The Ivar Aasen oil field, operated by Det Norske, will be developed with a seabed production installation and a subsea template. Det Norske has previously developed the Jette field, and Ivar Aasen will be the company’s first development with a seabed production installation. The development project includes the two discoveries 16/1-7 “West Cable” and 25/10-8 “Hanz” in addition to the Ivar Aasen discovery. The latter will be developed with a subsea template as phase two of the project. Resources were proven in late 2012 in production licence 457 near the Ivar Aasen discovery. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) has decided that these resources are part of the same deposit. When a deposit extends over multiple production licences, the licensees have an obligation to distribute and coordinate the resources (unitisation). A unitisation agreement and updated plan will be submitted to the MPE by 30 June this year.
Produced oil and gas from Ivar Aasen will be transferred to the Edvard Grieg platform for final processing. The Ivar Aasen field will also receive its power supply from the Edvard Grieg field.
Export of oil and gas from the Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen fields will require new pipelines from the Edvard Grieg platform. The licensees on the two fields have submitted plans for installation and operation (PIOs) for both export pipelines in 2013.
The Statoil-operated Gina Krog field will be developed with a seabed production installation. The oil will be transported to a storage ship and sent onward using shuttle tankers. The gas will be sent to Sleipner A for processing. Gas injection is planned for the first years to increase the recovery rate.
Gina Krog and Ivar Aasen are located near or on the Utsira High in the central part of the North Sea, directly west of Rogaland County. This same area holds the Edvard Grieg and Gudrun fields, both of which are approved for development using seabed production installations. The Johan Sverdrup discovery is also expected to be developed using multiple production installations resting on the seabed.
PDOs were also submitted in 2013 for the Statoil-operated Oseberg Delta 2 with a planned development using two subsea templates tied to the Oseberg field centre. In addition, the Mærsk-operated 1/5-2 Flyndre will be tied into the UK production facility, Clyde. Most of the resources in Flyndre are located on the UK side.
Norwegian Sea
Statoil-operated Aasta Hansteen, situated about 140 kilometres north of the Njord field and 300 kilometres west of Bodø, received PDO approval in June 2013. Water depth in the area is about 1300 metres. The licensees have decided to develop the field using a Spar-type floating production unit with built-in condensate storage, as well as subsea templates. Aasta Hansteen will be the largest Spar installation ever built, and the first in Norway.
The plan calls for the gas to be exported in a new pipeline to the Nyhamna land facility in Møre og Romsdal. The development is also conditional on approval of the PIO for Polarled (481-kilometre long pipeline from Aasta Hansteen to Nyhamna) and expansions of the land facility. Aasta Hansteen and Polarled will facilitate development of existing and new discoveries in the area, and could have a major impact on the interest in exploring for new gas resources in the Norwegian Sea.
More developments to come
The oil companies plan to deliver around 13 plans for development and operation over the next two years. About nine of these will be in the North Sea, three in the Norwegian Sea and one in the Barents Sea, where no PDO has been approved since Goliat in 2009.
Updated: 15/01/2014