Norwegian oil firm Statoil has marked a milestone on its giant Johan Sverdrup development offshore Norway - the installation of the project's 280-tonne pre-drilling template.
Heerema Marine Contractors’ crane vessel Thialf completed the installation of the 32m-long, 10m-high, pre-drilling template, which contains eight well slots to allow production wells to be pre-drilled before the drilling platform is installed in 2018.
The Deepsea Atlantic drilling rig will start pre-drilling on the Johan Sverdrup field through the pre-drilling template from March 2016.
Production is due to start from Johan Sverdrup, billed as Norway's biggest industrial project in coming years, in late 2019.
“We have completed and installed the first piece of one of the largest industrial projects in Europe," says Kjetel Digre, head of the Johan Sverdrup field development. "We still have a long journey ahead in the Johan Sverdrup development, but we are very pleased that we have completed and installed the subsea template without serious incidents and according to plan. This is a good start according to the required quality and precision standards for successful implementation of the development."
Johan Sverdrup is located on the Utsira High in the North Sea, 155km west of Stavanger and is one of the five biggest oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf. The field is approximately 1900m deep, in 110-120m water depth, and covers about 200sq km.
Statoil says that as of 2015, investment costs for full field development are estimated to be in the region of $22.3-28.9 billion, with recoverable resources of between 1.7 and 3.0 billion boe.
Johan Sverdrup’s $15.4 billion first phase development includes four bridge-linked platforms, with power from shore, and three subsea water injection templates.
“The activity level for the Johan Sverdrup project will be substantially increased as new steps are taken in the field development. We are working closely with the suppliers in the platform pre-engineering process. We have awarded several main contracts and utility packages worth more than NOK 40 billion so far. More contracts will be awarded during the autumn. We have also started building the first platform jacket at Kværner Verdal. So far, the Johan Sverdrup development is on track,” says Digre.
The Johan Sverdrup partnership consists of Statoil, Lundin Norway, Petoro, Det norske oljeselskap and Maersk Oil. The partnership has recommended Statoil as the operator of all field phases.
Images: Top - The pre-drilling template is 32m-long and 10m-high. Middle - The pre-drilling template includes eight well slots that allow production wells to be pre-drilled before the drilling platform is installed. Photos from Statoil.
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