Visund Onstream In January

Norsk Hydro reports that its Visund North field is scheduled to come onstream later this month. Initial output will be approximately 20,000 barrels per day and this will increase to a peak of 40,000 barrels per day. The field consists of two satellite wells connected to the Visund platform. Norsk Hydro is operator of Visund with a 20.3% interest, Statoil holds a 32.0% interest, Petoro holds a 30% interest, Conoco holds a 9.1% interest and TotalFinaElf holds the remaining 7.7%. Start-up of the Vale gas condensate field is expected in April of this year. Initial output will be at 1,600 cubic meters of condensate per day but this will rise to peak output of 2,600 cubic meters per day and 1.4 million cubic meters per day of gas. Norsk Hydro operates Vale with a 28.5% interest, Marathon holds a 46.9% interest and TotalFinaElf holds the remaining 24.2%.