Against a backdrop of snow covered mountains around a Norwegian fjord, Statoil has overseen the mating of the world’s largest spar-platform, Aasta Hansteen.
The 24-000 tonne topside was towed from Ølensvåg to Stord on the west coast of Norway, and floated over the 46,000-tonne floating vertical hull over the weekend. Statoil today released a video of the feat.
"Great planning, great people and equipment, and good weather is the recipe to successful operations," the firm says in its You Tube post. "Now the platform will be prepared for operations and, in the spring of 2018, it will be towed to the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea."
Statoil’s Aasta Hansteen spar development will move Norwegian operations into a new deepwater environment. The spar will be moored in 1300m water depth in the Norwegian Sea – the deepest previous project is Shell’s Ormen Lange, at 900m.
Aasta Hansteen was discovered in 1997, some 300km offshore, far from existing infrastructure. The development will produce the Luva, Snefrid and Haklang gas and condensate reservoirs, jointly known as Aasta Hansteen.
The Aasta Hansteen facility will also be Norway’s first spar project (as well as being the world’s largest spar), the country’s first use of steel catenary risers (SCRs), the first synthetic rope mooring spread offshore Norway and the first use of mechanically lined pipe installed using reel-lay in the country.
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