The Yttergryta subsea field has started gas production for the Asgard field in the Norwegian Sea, only eight months after the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved.

The field has been developed from find to production in around 18 months and the first part of the subsea production facility was already in place before exploration drilling was started.

"We will start production as soon as possible to help maintain the production flow from the Asgard field," said Svein Hatlem, vice president for Asgard operations.

The fast realization from find to production has been possible because we have good knowledge about the subsurface in the area, and the subsea production facility could be tied back to the existing infrastructure on the Asgard field.

"We have started production four months ahead of schedule thanks to efficient project execution," said Hatlem.

Containing very little carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas from Yttergryta will be mixed with the export gas from Asgard. Production from the field will be regulated by the demand on the Asgard field.

Yttergryta is the first field that StatoilHydro as a joint company has developed from PDO to production start.

The recoverable reserves in the field are around 11 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Yttergryta:

• Gas field located around 33 kilometers east of Asgard B in the Norwegian Sea
• Developed with a subsea template and one production well of about 2,400 meters
• The exploration well on Yttergryta was drilled in June 2007. The plan for development and operation (PDO) was submitted to the authorities January 2008 and was approved May 2008
• Recoverable reserves are 1.75 billion Sm3 of gas with very low carbon dioxide content, some condensate in addition
• Licensees: StatoilHydro (operator) 45.75%, ENI 9.80%, Total 24.50%, Petoro 19.95%Developed with a subsea template and one production well of about 2,400 meters