Engie boosts Gjøa production by 17.5%

French group ENGIE's Norwegian business has hailed an increase in gas production on its Gjøa field by 17.5% and an increase in the ultimatly recoverable reserves by 60 MMboe.

"Gjøa was originally designed to export 17 MMscm/d. That we are currently producing 20 MMscm/d, 17.5% more than estimated, is a great achievement," says Hilde Ådland, Head of Operations in ENGIE E&P Norge.

The milestone was reached on 7 March this year, when Gjøa produced 20 MMscm/d for the first time. The improvement from 17-20 MMscm/d has increased gas export revenues by NOK 5 million (US$610,000) per day for the Gjøa license, calculated in current day prices.

“Going from a limited export level of 10.5 MMscm/d due to singing risers in 2010, to the current production level has been an exciting process. We have continually focused on challenging limitations and trying to find solutions, which has yielded good results. Now that we've achieved 20 MMscm/d, it is an extra bonus that we're also experiencing a regularity of 98.3%," says Ådland.

From ENGIE E&P's office in Stavanger the company has access to all systems at Gjøa. By conducting daily video conferences with the platform and weekly meetings with other suppliers to the gas export pipeline (FLAGS), ENGIE E&P in Norway are now even more "hands on" with production than previously.

"Due to good reservoir management, Gjøa is set to produce 60 MMboe more than estimated at start of production, and in total, the field will produce 400 MMboe over its lifetime," says Ådland.

A greater focus on costs has also reduced operating costs on Gjøa by 10% from 2015-2016, and the company is already working on reducing this further in 2017.

ENGIE E&P Norge holds shares in 46 licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The company is operator of the producing field Gjøa, and of seven exploration licenses.

Net production from the Gjøa field in 2015 was 12.6 MMboe - making Gjøa the seventh largest producer on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

The company's ambition is to offer attractive technical solutions for third party business to Gjøa, as well as optimizing value of portfolio in core areas: Gudrun (North Sea), Gjøa (North Sea) and Njord (Norwegian Sea), and Snøhvit (Barents Sea).