Repsol has been given the green light to remove the Petrojarl Varg floating production unit and related subsea structures from the Varg field offshore Norway.
The Varg oil field is in the North Sea, about 220km south-west of Utsira in Rogaland county. The field was developed using the Varg A wellhead facility, subsea structures and the Petrojarl Varg.
According to a recent report by the EIA, poor economics led Repsol to shut down its small Varg field, which produced 5000 b/d in January, five years ahead of earlier plans.
Repsol plans to end production from the field next month (June 2016). The Petrojarl Varg will leave the field in August 2016, while removal of the subsea structures will start later in Q3, according to Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority.
The Varg A wellhead facility will remain in place while plugging and removal of the wells takes place.
Production had started at Varg in 1998. Repsol Norge (Repsol) is the operator, following its 2015 buy-out of Talisman, which had been the operator since 2005. Teekay has been responsible for running the two facilities on the field on behalf of the operator.
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