Norway’s Statoil and its partners have submitted two Plans for Development and Operation (PDOs) for two field projects—one in the North Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea—that were both made economically attractive by the use of existing subsea infrastructure.

For the Utgard gas and condensate discovery, which straddles the UK-Norway median line, Statoil tabled a PDO to the Norwegian government and a Field Development Plan (FDP) to U.K. authorities.

The majority of Utgard’s reserves lie on the Norwegian side of the median line. Recoverable reserves at Utgard are estimated at 56.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). The capex is forecast to be around US $421.5 million.

The Utgard development will include two wells in a standard subsea concept, with one drilling target on each side of the median line. All installations and infrastructure being located in the Norwegian sector, the U.K. well will be drilled from the subsea template on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The distance from the subsea template to the median line is 0.45 km.

Gas and condensate will be piped through a new pipeline to the Sleipner Field for processing and further transportation to the market. The Utgard gas has a high CO2 content and will benefit from carbon cleaning and storage at Sleipner.

A Statoil spokesperson told SEN that tendering is underway for the four packages of work on the Utgard project: drilling; fabrication of subsea production system (SPS), pipelines and risers; installation of SPS, pipelines and risers; and modification work to existing facilities.

The modification contract is due to be awarded “very shortly,” with the other three workloads expected to be awarded “through the autumn and up to the end of 2016, possibly early 2017,” the spokesperson added.

“Reuse of existing infrastructure is essential to the development of the Utgard discovery,” Statoil noted.

“It is very positive that the licensees in Utgard have decided on a project that will ensure good and cost-efficient utilization of the facilities and the available process capacity on Sleipner,” said Tove Francke, assistant director for development and operation, Southern North Sea, at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).

She added that the Utgard subsea development shows “it is also possible to realize profitable projects during periods with challenging cost and price regimes.”

The Utgard wells are scheduled to come onstream at the end of 2019. In the plateau phase the field will produce around 7, 000 standard cubic meters of oil equivalent per day (247,100 cubic feet of oil equivalent per day). The water depth at Utgard is 110 m (361 ft), and the reservoir is located around 3,700 m (12,140 ft) below the sea surface. Utgard is due to start producing in fourth-quarter 2019.

Discovered in 1982, Utgard (formerly Alfa Sentral) is located 21 km from the Sleipner Field. The discovery has been considered for development on several occasions in the past, Statoil said. But the use of existing subsea infrastructure made it viable this time around.

“Utgard provides new production which will be essential to further developing the Sleipner area, supporting the company’s ambitious targets for future activity and value creation,” said Torger Rød, Statoil’s senior vice president for project development.

Utgard is located in production licenses 046E and 046F on the Norwegian shelf and in Production License 312 on the U.K. shelf.

Statoil operates Utgard on the Norwegian side with a 62% stake, while Poland’s Lotos E&P Norge holds 28% and France’s Total has 10%. Statoil UK is the operator on the U.K. side with a 100% stake.

The Utgard development plan is the first PDO to be submitted to authorities in 2016, the NPD noted.

Byrding Takes Flight

Statoil was quick to submit a second PDO of the year to the NPD for its operated Byrding discovery in the Norwegian North Sea.

Byrding, previously called Astero, is an oil and gas discovery that lies in Block 35/11. The estimated volume of recoverable resources from Byrding is around 1.8 MMcm of oil equivalents.

The discovery is located 3.8 km north of Fram and 27 km southwest of Gjøa at a water depth of 360 m (1,181 ft). The reservoir is situated around 3,100 m (10,171 ft) below the sea surface.

The discovery was made in 2005 with exploration well 35/11-13 and was appraised by well 35/11-14 in 2006.

“Development of Byrding has been considered multiple times over the past 10 years. The concept choice was made in Q1 2015 and the licensees plan to start production in Q2 2017,” the NPD said.

Under the PDO, Byrding will be developed with a two-branch well drilled from an available slot on the existing subsea template on Fram H-North. The well stream will be routed via Fram infrastructure to Troll C, where it will be partially processed. The oil will then be transported via pipeline to Mongstad, north of Bergen, while the gas will be sent via Troll A to the terminal at Kollsnes, south of Mongstad.

“It is very positive that Byrding is now being developed and is contributing to value creation both for society at large and for the licensees,” said Tomas Mørch, the NPD’s assistant director for the Northern North Sea.

Mørch also noted the importance of the efficient use of existing infrastructure and for companies to cooperate to develop “good area solutions” despite obstacles. “The development of minor discoveries using existing infrastructure, where the ownership structure and strategies differ in the various production licenses, may pose commercial challenges,” Mørch added.

Byrding lies in Production License 090 B (PL 090 B), which Statoil operates with a 45% stake, while Germany’s Wintershall holds 25%, Japan’s Idemitsu has 15% and France’s Engie has 15%.

—Steve Hamlen