Statoil Awards Kongsberg FMC Subsea Contract for Tordis

Statoil

A letter of intent has been signed by Statoil with Kongsberg FMC for the delivery of a subsea separation station to improve oil recovery on the Tordis field in the North Sea. This assignment will be worth some NOK 625 million when options are included.

"The project represents the first adoption of a full-scale subsea separation facility," says project manager Hans Kristiansen. "It will thereby give this technology a significant boost."

Tordis is tied back to Statoil's Gullfaks C platform, and the improved oil recovery (IOR) project is expected to boost its recovery factor from 49 to 55 percent.

This increase corresponds to about 35 million barrels of oil in addition to associated gas.

Tordis IOR comprises two phases. The first embraces necessary platform modifications on Gullfaks C to convert to low-pressure production.

Planned to come on stream in October 2006, this stage will improve recovery by about 16 million barrels.

Phase two embraces the separation station and pumps with support systems for the platform. This is due to recover some 19 million barrels of additional oil from October 2007.

Total investment in the development is put at NOK 1.5 billion.

"Tordis IOR represents a significant contribution to developing and improving technology which will have a range of applications," says Mr. Kristiansen.

"These include development of fields in deep or environmentally-sensitive waters, tie-in of fields located a long way from fixed installations, and tail production.

A technology-qualification program with clearly defined acceptance criteria has been established and a revised plan for development and operation (PDO) of Tordis is due to be submitted to the Norwegian authorities in October.

When the PDO is submitted to the authorities, the remaining technology qualification must have an acceptable risk level.


Most Popular Articles