Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has given Statoil the green light to move forward with the development of its unmanned Oseberg Vestflanken 2 project that is expected to tap some 110 MMboe in the North Sea.
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Illustration of Oseberg Vestflanken 2, from Statoil. |
Investments for Oseberg Vestflanken 2’s plan for development and operation (PDO) are estimated, from 2015, at about US$1 billion (NOK 8.2 billion). The project is the first of three planned phases for developing the remaining reserves in the Oseberg area targeting the Alpha, Gamma, and Kappa oil and gas fields.
The project consists of an unmanned wellhead platform with 10 well slots; in addition to two existing subsea wells that will be reused. All wells will be controlled remotely 8mi away from the Oseberg field center, and the well stream will be routed to the Oseberg field via a new pipeline, with production anticipated for Q2 2018. The wells at Oseberg Vestflanken 2 will be drilled by the new category J rig Askepott, which is currently under construction.
Aiming to cut investment costs throughout the engineering phase, Statoil said the company has reduced the break-even price of the project by some 30%, due to reduced capex and successful maturing of the resource base, thus increasing volumes, making the project resilient, even in a low oil price environment.
“It is gratifying that the strategies established for the procurement of Oseberg’s license rig is now being realized through a profitable project, optimally utilizing the existing infrastructure,” Gunnar Nakken, Statoil’s senior vice president, operations west said.
Statoil is using the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 project as a pilot project and learning platform for other operators, and public authorities, as well as the rest of Statoil’s project portfolio.
The concept is new in Norway, but has been thoroughly tested on the Danish and Dutch continental shelves, Statoil said.
According to Torger Rød, Statoil’s senior vice president for project management, Oseberg Vestflanken 2’s new concept has been required to meet the high safety standards established for installations on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Several companies have already been awarded contracts for Oseberg Vestflanken 2, including Heerema Fabrication Group for the EPC of the unmanned wellhead plaform; Technip for pipe laying and umbilicals; and Aibel for EPCI.
Statoil is the operator of Oseberg Vestflanken 2 with 49.3% stake. Partners include Petoro (33.6%), Total (14.7%) and ConocoPhillips (2.4%).
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