Statoil is hoping to extend the life of the Norwegian Sea Norne field to 2030 - more than 15 years after it was originally scheduled to be shut down.
The Norway-based operator says the field life will be extended by tying in new discoveries in the area, as well as pushing up the already impressive recovery rate from 56.5% to 60%.
Norne came on stream via an FPSO (pictured) on 6 November 1997, in Blocks 6608/10 and 6608/11, in 280m water depth, 85km from Heidrum, via five subsea templates. Today there are 15 subsea templates tied back to Norne.
“Thanks to systematic maintenance of Norne for 17 years the vessel is now in a good technical condition. We have also aimed to facilitate improved recovery and phase-in of new discoveries to the Norne vessel. In light of this we are now considering extending Norne’s life to 2030,” says Norne operations vice president Kristin Westvik.
In the Norne license, 26 exploration wells have been drilled, including five successes; the Norne, Stær, Svale, Dompap and Fossekall fields.
The last subsea template to be installed was the Skuld fast-track project in 2013, which represented a total investment of almost NOK10 billion. In addition, the Alve field and the Eni-operated Marulk field have been tied in to the Norne FPSO.
“The remaining resources in the Norne area may total as much as 300 million barrels of oil equivalent—the equivalent of an Aasta Hansteen field,” Westvik says.
During 2014 Statoil, Polarkonsult in Harstad and Aker Solutions in Tromsø have conducted several studies to clarify the technical condition of the hull of the Norne FPSO. It was necessary to determine whether the Norne FPSO needed a yard stay in 2018 in order to extend its technical life to 2030.
“The studies conclude that the hull structure is solid and that the life can most likely be extended to 2036. We can thus make the necessary modifications at Norne in order to extend the productive life without bringing the FPSO ashore for an extensive period. This allows us time to thoroughly plan the road ahead for Norne 2030,” says Westvik.
The focus now is on progressing the good maintenance work to keep up the good technical condition of the hull. Statoil will establish a project in 2017 detailing the scope and time of investments, and will also apply for an extended technical life for Norne by 2021.
The Norne license was awarded in 1986. Statoil is operator with 39.1% interest with partners Petoro (54%), and and Eni Norge (6.9%).
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