Statoil and its partners will make a decision before year-end 2016 to proceed with the expansion of the $3 billion to $3.3 billion Snorre Field in the Norwegian Sea.

Statoil said the partners would make the “Decision Gate 2” (DG2) within this time frame, with the preferred option being “a significant subsea tieback” to the Snorre A platform.

Once this decision is made, the partners can move swiftly onto the FEED stage.

“A contract for FEED work can be awarded quickly after a positive DG2 is reached,” Statoil told SEN.

The operator added that Wood Group is “a part of the total Snorre Expansion Program (SEP),” which suggests that the contractor has a good chance of success once the FEED contract comes up for grabs. Indeed, Wood Group has an option for the FEED and an option for construction of the riser base.

“All the work we are performing within the project helps the decision. Specs for subsea requirements will be worked out during the FEED phase,” Statoil said.

Tendering for engineering and construction work is expected to be launched after final project sanction in 2017. A plan for development and operation for the SEP is expected to be submitted by year-end 2017.

Statoil said the SEP is due onstream “during 2021, but we do not have any more specific timing at this stage.”

For some years, the Snorre partners have been struggling to agree on the best concept to develop the estimated additional 200 MMbbl to 300 MMbbl of oil that the SEP is targeting. In February they agreed to study a subsea development as a possible concept for the SEP, with this solution now the preferred option.

Norway’s Petoro has frequently expressed its concerns that as production depletes the Snorre Field every year, reservoir pressure falls and fewer barrels can be recovered. Now the ball seems to be rolling again on the SEP after these delays.

Early engineering work has been carried out to look at the potential subsea field layout, design of pipelines, system engineering and design of subsea pipeline structures.

The Snorre Field covers blocks 34/4 and 34/7 in the Tampen Area of the Norwegian North Sea. The field has been producing oil and gas since August 1992. The Snorre development embraces two platforms, A and B.

Snorre A is an integrated production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) unit. This tension-leg platform is moored to the seabed by steel tethers.

Partly stabilized oil and gas from Snorre A is transported via a subsea pipeline to the nearby Statfjord A platform for final processing.

The oil is then loaded into shuttle tankers, while the gas is transported to continental Europe through the Statpipe system and to St Fergus, Scotland, through the Tampen link.

The Snorre B platform came onstream in June 2001. This semisubmersible PDQ floater lies around 7 km (4 miles) north of the A platform. Oil from Snorre B is piped for 45 km (28 miles) to Statfjord B for storage and export.

Part of the gas is injected back into the reservoir, while the rest is transported by pipeline via Snorre A to continental Europe through the Statpipe system and to St. Fergus, Scotland, through the Tampen link pipeline.

Pil & Bue Concept Chosen

Faroe Petroleum reported that the partners in the Pil and Bue discoveries in production license 586 (PL 586) have chosen a subsea development solution tied back to the Njord platform in the Norwegian Sea as the preferred concept for the discoveries.

Three competing concepts were considered in the evaluation process: subsea tiebacks to either the Njord or Draugen platforms as well an FPSO vessel as a standalone development.

The FPSO option was estimated to cost about $1.59 billion but lost out in favor of the tieback concept to Njord. The tieback had an initial cost of about $1.83 billion, but it is believed significant reductions have since been made that gave this option the edge over the FPSO solution.

“Going forward, the development solution will be matured through the front end engineering design stage toward a formal field development plan,” Faroe said.

The Njord production facility is currently in Kvaerner’s Stord facility in Norway undergoing extensive modifications to increase materially its operating life and accommodate a number of new satellite field tieback developments, including Pil and Bue.

“I am very pleased to announce that the Njord facilities have been chosen for the development of the material Pil and Bue discoveries,” said Faroe CEO Graham Stewart. “This is a significant step in the maturation of these high-quality discoveries, and the fact that they will be tied back to infrastructure we know well, and are joint venture partners in, further consolidates one of our core areas in Norway.”

Operator VGN estimates that recoverable reserves at Pil and Bue are between 80 MMboe and 200 MMboe.

The partners in PL 586 are VGN (30%), Spike Exploration (30%), Faroe (25%) and Pure E&P (15%).

—Steve Hamlen

Offshore