Improving oil recovery and extending the field life of Statfjord Øst
28. desember 2020
On 16 December 2020, Equinor, as Operator of Statfjord Øst Unit and on behalf of the partners, issued a written notification of material changes to the Plan for Development and Operation for Statfjord Øst.
The partners in
Statfjord Øst have decided to invest NOK 3 billion in the North Sea Statfjord
Øst field to improve recovery by 23 million barrels of oil equivalent, through
what is referred to as the Statfjord Øst gas lift project.
The gas lift project
comprises of a new gas lift pipeline system, modifications on the host platform
Statfjord C to supply lift gas, and four infill wells, drilled from existing subsea
well slots on Statfjord Øst templates L and M. The project will be executed by Equinor’s new FLX (Field Life Extension)
organization. Production
start is scheduled for 2024.
The Statfjord Øst
field is based on a joint development and production agreement between
production licenses PL 037 and PL 089, and Idemitsu Petroleum Norge’s (“IPN”)
share in Statfjord Øst Unit is 4.8%. The existing Statfjord Øst development
comprises subsea installations that include three templates, tied back to the
Statfjord C platform, as well as long reach wells from Statfjord C. The field
is located five kilometres north-east of Statfjord C.
The field came on
stream in 1994, and the original oil volume in place on Statfjord Øst was 415 million barrels of oil.
The current recovery factor is 56 percent, and according to the operator’s
estimate an increase to 62 percent is expected as a result of this project.
“IPN is pleased to see
that Equinor has managed to revitalize the Statfjord area and Statfjord Øst
specifically. The gas lift project will
significantly extend the economic lifetime of Statfjord Øst, which was earlier anticipated
to cease production by end of 2025. The
project will also indirectly have a positive impact on our Sygna asset and
enable potential further value creation in the area”, says IPN’s Managing
Director Mr. Futoshi Tsuneyama.