The Valemon gas and condensate field in the North Sea will be opened by Tord Lien, Norway’s petroleum and energy minister, Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) said April 16.

Valemon is a new project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, said Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for Development & Production Norway. The field has a high-pressure/high-temperature reservoir. Expected recoverable reserves are 192 MMboe.

This is the first new Bergen-operated platform since Kvitebjørn was put onstream 10 years ago, Stavanger, Norway-based Statoil said. Condensate from Valemon will be piped to Kvitebjørn for processing and then forwarded to Mongstad, while the gas will be transported to Heimdal for processing and then sent to the market. Nylund said Heimdal was scheduled to be shut down last year, but Valemon is extending its life as a gas hub.

By using existing facilities on Kvitebjørn and Heimdal, as well as existing pipelines, Valemon’s field development costs were reduced.

Valemon’s topside was constructed in South Korea. This was the first time Statoil awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a topside to an Asian shipyard. The jacket and the living quarter were built at two shipyards in the Netherlands. The platform has a high percentage of Norwegian suppliers--80 of 120 mechanical equipment packages were delivered by Norwegian suppliers.

Statoil Petroleum A/S is the operator, with 53.77% interest. Petoro AS has a 30% interest. Centrica Resources has a 13% interest. A/S Norske Shell has a 3.23% interest.

Investments in Valemon’s field development will total almost 22.6 billion Norwegian kroner when all wells are drilled. The platform will then have 10 production wells.

Source: Statoil

Offshore