PDO for Oseberg Vestflanken 2 sanctioned
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has sanctioned the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) of Oseberg Vestflanken 2. Reserves projected at 110 million barrels of oil equivalent the investments are estimated at NOK 8.2 billion (2015).
The Oseberg Vestflanken 2 development consists of an unmanned wellhead platform with ten well slots. In addition two existing subsea wells will be reused. All wells will be remote-controlled from Oseberg field centre.
âOseberg Vestflanken 2 is a pioneer project of great strategic importance,â says Torger Rød, Statoilâs senior vice president for project management.
The project is a pilot that other operators, public authorities and the rest of Statoilâs project portfolio are already learning from.
The concept is new in Norway, but has been thoroughly tested on the Danish and Dutch continental shelves.
âThis new concept has been required to meet the high safety standards established for installations on the Norwegian continental shelf,â Rød says.
Aiming to cut investment costs throughout the engineering phase Statoil has reduced the break-even price of the project by about 30 percent thanks to reduced CAPEX and successful maturing of the resource base, thus increasing volumes.
This makes the project resilient, even in a low oil price environment.
The wells at Oseberg Vestflanken 2 will be drilled by the new category J rig Askepott, which is currently under construction. It is owned by the Oseberg licence.
âIt is gratifying that the strategies established for the procurement of Osebergâs licence rig is now being realised through a profitable project, optimally utilising the existing infrastructure,â says Gunnar Nakken, Statoilâs senior vice president, Operations West.
Helping extend the life of the Oseberg field the project is an important contribution to Statoilâs ambition of sustaining production on the NCS at the current level to 2030, and beyond. Oseberg Vestflanken 2 is the first of three planned phases for developing the remaining reserves in the Oseberg area.
âJoint optimism among the Oseberg partners about the future of the Oseberg area is at the bottom of this,â Nakken concludes.
- Partners in the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 production licence: Statoil Petroleum AS (49.3%), Petoro AS (33.6%), Total E&P Norge AS (14.7%) and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (2.4%)
- First oil is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018
- Location: In the North Sea some 8 kilometres north-west of Oseberg field centre
- Volumes: 110 million barrels of oil equivalent
- Depth: some 110-metre water depth
- Estimated productive life: until 2040