Statoil's Kvitebjørn field in the North Sea will see production increase by 220MMboe, or from 55% to 70% recovery rate, thanks to a new compressor installed on the 10-year-old Kvitebjørn platform, the firm said today.
The compressor, installed 17 September, will also help extend the field’s lifetime by eight years, taking it to 2035, said Statoil.
The extra barrels from the compressor are equivalent to a medium-sized, separately developed field, said Statoil.
“Many people don’t realise that these relatively small modules are able to contribute as much or more value as new fields and that they cost much less to develop because the platform is already in place,” explains Statoil brownfield projects senior vice president Terese Kvinge.
The new compressor will lower pressure on the platform, enabling greater production from the field, which had seen lowering reservoir pressure.
The compressor module was built by Bergen Group Rosenberg (now Rosenberg Worley Parson Group) in Stavanger. The 1000-tonne module was lifted into position during the summer 2013.
Space has been left on the platform for a potential second pre-compression phase .
Rich gas and condensate (light oil) from Kvitebjørn are piped to Kollsnes near Bergen and Mongstad further north respectively.
After processing at Kollsnes, the dry gas is piped to continental Europe. The separated NGL is transported by pipeline to the Vestprosess plant at Mongstad for fractionation into propane, butanes and naphtha.
Condensate travels through the Kvitebjørn Oil Pipeline, which ties into the Troll Oil Pipeline II to Mongstad.
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