Statoil has made a new 20-50 MMboe gas discovery on the Norwegian North Sea Valemon field, at Valemon West.
The well was drilled using the jackup rig West Elara, in 133.5m water depth, 160km north-west of Bergen. It is the seventh exploration well that has been drilled in production license 193 D, Valemon Unit.
The well is currently being completed and put on stream from the Valemon platform. Statoil says the Valemon reservoir is complex because it is fragmented and also because of its high pressure and high temperature.
Valemon is a gas and condensate field between the Kvitebjørn and Gullfaks South fields, containing approximately 192 MMboe. It was developed using a remote-operated, fixed jacket platform with a gas, condensate and water separation facility.
Gas from Valemon is transported via the existing pipeline from Huldra to Heimdal, which is a hub for further transportation to European gas markets.
Condensate is piped to Kvitebjørn for stabilization and further transport to the Mongstad processing complex north of Bergen. A submarine cable transmits electricity from Kvitebjørn to Valemon. Field production started on 3 January 2015.Gunnar Nakken, Statoil’s senior vice president for the operations west cluster, which covers the company’s Bergen-operated fields, sayd: "The discovery proves that there are still good opportunities in the North Sea, an area we know well, and its infrastructure is extensive."
"Discoveries like this one and Cape Vulture are valuable contributions to existing fields," says Jez Averty, Statoil’s head of exploration in Norway and the UK.
The Valemon Unit partners are Statoil (operator, 53.775%), Petoro (30%), Centrica Resources (13%) and Shell (3.225%).