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Page added on May 8, 2012
Breathing New Life into Aging Fields in the North Sea
As new technology emerges, operators are turning their focus to redeveloping mature fields, creating a new focus for oil and gas companies. This growing demand has pressed companies in the service sector to broaden their skills and address a wider range of reservoir and production problems. Problems that are typical of aging fields are: wellstream pressure, increased volumes of produced water, solids production, loss of oil recovery and loss of compression.
Rigzone has compiled a list of five mature fields in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea that are currently being redeveloped to increase the field’s life span and enhance production output.
| The Statfjord field |
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| The Statfjord field, which came online in 1979, is currently being redeveloped. Statoil will use a workover system to perform intervention activities on their subsea wells in order to increase performance and enhance oil recovery on the aging field. The Statfjord area lies on the border between the Norwegian and British sectors in the northern part of the North Sea. |
| The Gullfaks field |
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| Statoil will install a subsea gas compression plant on the mature Gullfaks field, which came online in 1986. The Gullfaks field is experiencing a decline in natural reservoir pressure, so the field may need boosting in the form of compression in order to produce more gas and bring the gas up to the platform. In 2011, Statoil and partner Petoro decided to choose a subsea solution as the preferred concept for gas compression some nine miles (15 kilometers) from the Gullfaks C platform. This may increase the production from the field by 3 billion cubic meters of gas, enabling Gullfaks to sustain plateau production for gas export. |
| The Asgard field |
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| Another field to undergo redevelopment through the installation of subsea gas compression is the Asgard field. Statoil said that subsea compression on Asgard should improve recovery from the Mikkel and Midgard reservoirs by some 278 MMbbl of oil equivalent. Statoil stated that natural pressure from the project will become too low over time to maintain stable flow and a high-production profile from the Asgard B platform. The operator intends to install seabed compressors near the wellheads to increase the pressure and compensate for the decline. Discovered in 1981, Asgard commenced production in 1999. |
| The Oseberg field |
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| Oseberg, producing oil and gas since 1988, was modified in 2010 in order to maintain a high level of oil production, allowing for the recovery of an additional 20 million barrels of oil. The operator continues to drill in the area in search of discoveries to tie-back to the field’s facilities to increase the life span of the mature field. |
| The Ekofisk field |
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| Ekofisk, the oldest field in operation in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, commenced production in 1971. The 40-year-old field is situated in a water depth of 246 feet (75 meters) and has been redeveloped several times to increase the field’s life expectancy until 2028 or further beyond. The complex is operated by ConocoPhillips. |
4 Comments on "Breathing New Life into Aging Fields in the North Sea"
Max Reid on Tue, 8th May 2012 9:14 pm
Its official, many major oil companies produced less oil in 2011 compared to 2010.
Looks like they are drilling deeper and deeper.
Meanwhile Solar companies are combining Photovoltaic and Thermal systems to get the best of both Worlds.
http://cleantechnica.com/2012/05/08/echos-combined-solar-pv-solar-thermal-systems-now-available-in-north-carolina/
DC on Tue, 8th May 2012 11:39 pm
Ah RZ..always good for a laugh…
BillT on Wed, 9th May 2012 12:27 am
The oil industry is on the ventilator with IVs in each arm, laying in the ICU waiting to die. Every expensive procedure they can think of to prolong the patient is being used, including the chance that one or several of them will kill all life on earth.
Kenz300 on Wed, 9th May 2012 4:04 pm
It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy sources. Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from algae, cellulose and waste are the future. We can now produce biofuels from waste or trash. It is time to convert those landfills into plants that produce biofuels, energy (methane) and raw materials for new products. Trash provides cheap inputs for the process since they are already being collected. We need to more to a more sustainable future.