Norwegian authorities have approved Statoil’s more than $2.3 billion plans for the Njord and Bauge developments in the Norwegian Sea, Statoil said June 21.

Statoil plans to upgrade the Njord A platform and the Njord Bravo floating, storage and offloading (FSO) vessel in an effort to recover resources remaining on the Njord and Hyme fields. The fields are believed to hold about 175 MMboe.

Ten new production wells are planned.

Bauge, a new development, will be tied in to the Njord A platform, the company said. The discovery is located about 16 km (10 miles) northeast of the platform.

Development plans for Bauge, where Statoil plans to produce 73 MMboe, call for one subsea template, two oil produces and one water injector.

Oil has been produced from the Njord Field since 1997. With the upgrades, Statoil said the field will now produce for another 20 years.

“Kværner at Stord has been awarded the contract for upgrading the platform and work facilitating the tie-in of Bauge and potential future third-party tie-ins,” Torger Rød, Statoil’s head of project development in Statoil, said in a news release.

The upgrades and new infrastructure at Njord allows for development of other nearby fields, added Siri Espedal Kindem, senior vice president, Operations North, Development and Production Norway.

“Njord remaining onstream until 2040 is important for our specialist communities in Kristiansund and Stjørdal as well as the mid-Norway supply industry,” Kindem said.

First oil is expected in 2020.

Statoil is the operator of Njord, holding 20% interest. Partners are Engie E&P Norge, 20%; DEA Norge, 50%; Faroe Petroleum, 7.5%; and VNG Norge, 2.5%. Statoil and partners plan to award the contract for the FSO vessel upgrades in 2018.

With a 35% stake, Statoil is also the operator of Bauge. Partners are Engie E&P Norge, 10%; Point Resources, 17.5%; DEA Norge, 27.5%; Faroe Petroleum Norge, 7.5%; and VNG Norge, 2.5%.

—Staff Reports

Offshore