StatoilHydro aims to add 600,000 bbl/day by 2015
“Our goal is to realise the short-term resource and value potential of all of our producing fields, while putting considerable efforts into developing new projects and business opportunities in order to sustain the production level on the NCS in the long term,” Ms Norheim said.
New field development projects are designed to add 300,000 bbl/day of oil equivalent in 2015. StatoilHydro is working on field development plans for fields such as Gudrun, Trestakk, Valemon, Astero, Peon, Luva, Lavrans and Dagny.
At the same time, projects to enhance the recovery from fields that are already on stream will account for 40-50% of the company’s total new production on the NCS in the next 5-10 years.
“Enhanced recovery and extension of the life of fields and facilities on stream are critical to maximising the value of the petroleum resources on the NCS. Fields such as Gullfaks, Oseberg, Grane, Sleipner West and Tune will be key contributors towards our ambitions for improved oil recovery from existing fields. We are thus currently maturing 600 million barrels of oil equivalent of new reserves, the equivalent of a new Norne field,” she said.
She also pointed to important challenges in the further development of the company’s portfolio on the NCS.
“The industrialisation of development solutions has already proved beneficial, and we have implemented several small-size field development projects in very short time. This development must be progressed through a good partnership between us as the operator and our suppliers.”
Ms Norheim referred to the plan for development and operation (PDO) for Yttergryta as an example of short lead time from discovery to field development approval. It took just six months for the PDO to be submitted.
“Effective drilling of new wells and optimal utilisation of the drilling capacity are also essential to the achievement of our goals for reserve development on the NCS. Finally, long-term access to prospective areas is a very important part of the foundation for our efforts and contribution to long-term value capture,” she said.
StatoilHydro is the operator of 39 oil and gas fields on the NCS that produce 7,000-192,000 bbl/day of oil equivalent. The company announced a production target of 1.9 million bbl/day of oil equivalent in 2008 and plans to increase its production level to 2.2 million bbl/day in 2012. The company plans to drill some 80 new production wells and some 35 exploration wells on the NCS this year.
So far in 2008, StatoilHydro has submitted PDOs for three development projects – Yttergryta, Morvin and further development of the Troll field. Six new fields have been put on stream on the NCS so far this year – Gulltopp, Oseberg Gamma Main Statfjord, Vigdis East, Theta Cook, Oseberg Delta and Vilje.
