Statoil expands Snøhvit CO2 and gas production

OE Staff Aug 9, 2016

The Songa Enabler drilling rig has started drilling a new injection well for CO2 gas on the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea, off the coast of Hammerfest, Norway.

Once complete, the rig will then drill the first new production well in the field since it came on stream in 2017. The drilling campaign will run until Christmas and will help continue gas supply to the Hammerfest LNG plant.

Snøhvit is still the only LNG project in the world capturing and storing CO2 separated from the well stream in a dedicated formation offshore, says Statoil.

So far more than 4 million tonne of CO2 from Snøhvit have been stored. The stored CO2 is being monitored in order to ensure that it does not mix with the main producing reservoir. A new CO2 injection well is now required to stop this happening.

“Hammerfest LNG needed replenishment of gas in order to maintain the high production and capacity utilization at the plant, while ensuring sustainable CO2 storage. This project is therefore important to Statoil,” says Geir Owren, asset owner representative for the project.

In the summer of 2015 an extensive marine campaign was performed. Pipelines and a template for the CO2 project were installed and tied in to the existing subsea facility on the Snøhvit field. The new subsea facility was built and installed without injuries and well within the budget of NOK 2.5 billion.

“The distance to the Barents Sea presents extra challenges with regard to mobilization and sailing time, which requires careful planning, thorough preparations and close cooperation with the suppliers. We are pleased both with the equipment suppliers and marine operations, which resulted in successful project implementation,” says project leader Sveinung Øvretveit.

The next big development step for Hammerfest LNG is the development of the Askeladd field, which is part of the plan for development and operation of the Snøhvit license. It is expected to come on stream in 2020/2021. This development step will help ensure full utilization of the capacity at Hammerfest LNG.