Petroleum and energy minister Tord Lien opened the Valemon gas and condensate field in the North Sea on 16 April. Expected recoverable reserves from the field are 192 MMboe.
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Valemon ribbon cutting. From Statoil/Harald Pettersen. |
“Valemon is one of several new projects on the Norwegian continental shelf that contribute to value creation, activity and innovation,” says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for development & production Norway.
“The field does not only provide jobs and spinoffs in virtue of its own operation, Valemon is also extending the life of surrounding installations.”
This is the first new Bergen-operated platform since Kvitebjørn was put on stream 10 years ago. Valemon field development investments will reach a total of about US$2.8 billion (NOK 22.6 billion) when all wells have been drilled. The platform will then have 10 production wells.
Condensate from Valemon will be piped to Kvitebjørn for processing and then forwarded to Mongstad, while the gas will be transported to Heimdal for processing and then sent to the market.
“Valemon is thereby extending the life of Heimdal, which was scheduled to be shut down in 2014, as a gas hub in this part of the North Sea,” says Nylund.
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Valemon. From Statoil/Harald Pettersen. |
By using existing facilities on Kvitebjørn and Heimdal, as well as existing pipelines, the Valemon field development costs have furthermore been reduced.
The Valemon topside was constructed in South Korea. This is the first time Statoil awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for a topside to an Asian shipyard.
The platform has a high percentage of Norwegian suppliers, as 80 of 120 mechanical equipment packages have been delivered by Norwegian suppliers.
The South Korean shipyard and a competitive Norwegian supplier industry have, in cooperation with a competent project organization, ensured that production starts on time and with excellent HSE results,” says Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects & Drilling.
Statoil is the operator of Valemon with 53.77% interest. License partners include Petoro AS (30%), Centrica Resources (13%), A/S Norske Shell (3.23%).
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