Aker BP's Valhall, Hod hit 1 billion boe mark

Valhall and Hod have passed 1 billion boe produced, more than three times what was expected at the opening of the field in 1982, Aker BP said.

Image of Valhall, from Aker BP.

Hod, which produces via Valhall, has delivered over 75 MMboe, more than twice the estimated oil at field start-up in 1990.

Valhall’s oil and gas is produced from chalk reservoirs sitting about 2500m below the seabed in the southern part of the North Sea.

The activity level on the field has been high, with almost continuous drilling since start-up. Seismic and well technologies are key leavers for developing the field. The current well stock comprises 55 active wells out of a total of nearly 150 productive wells drilled since field discovery. Eighteen seismic 4D seabed surveys have been acquired since 2003.

“In 1995, work was performed with the goal to extend the field lifetime and recover more than 1 billion boe. We have now achieved this goal 15 years ahead of what was thought at the time. Our new ambition is to further produce at least another 500 MMboe,” says Eldar Larsen, senior vice president of operations in Aker BP.

Valhall

The Valhall field was discovered in 1975 and put into production in 1982 with a process / production platform, a drilling platform and an accommodation platform. Production from the new process / accommodation platform started in January 2013.

Today, the Valhall complex consists of six separate steel platforms that are connected by footbridges. In addition, the field has two unmanned flank platforms, one in south and one in the north, both about 6km from the field center.

The production capacity at Valhall for oil is 120,000 b/d, and the gas handling capacity is 4 MMcm/d. In 2016, the average daily production level was some 45,000 boe/d.

The field is powered from shore via a 294km long DC cable with 78 MW capacity from Lista.

Aker BP is the operator of Valhall with 35.9% interest. Partner Hess Norway hold the remaining 64.1%.

Hod

Hod is a normally unmanned wellhead platform, Aker BP said. It is remotely controlled from Valhall 13km away, and was the North Sea’s first unmanned platform when production started in August 1990.

Production ceased from the Hod platform in 2012. Today, the Hod license produces from wells drilled from Valhall Flank South platform.

The decommissioning plan for the Hod platform has been submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Aker BP is the operator of Hod with 37.5% interest. Partner Hess Norway hold the remaining 62.5%.

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