Statoil Plans to Extend Life of Norne Field to 2030

   By Dominic Chopping 
 

Norwegian oil and gas major Statoil ASA (STO) said Friday it now hopes to extend the life of the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea to 2030, having initially planned to shut down during 2014.

The company said that after 17 years of service, the Norne floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) is in good technical condition while it has also aimed to facilitate improved recovery and phase-in of new discoveries to the vessel.

Norne and its satellites have produced around 700 million barrels of oil equivalent since 1997, and the recovery factor for the main Norne field today is 56.5%. The company will now aim to increase the recovery factor to 60%, with remaining resources in the Norne area possibly totaling 300 million barrels of oil equivalent.

"The focus now is on progressing the good maintenance work to keep up the good technical condition of the hull. Statoil will establish a project in 2017 detailing the scope and time of investments, and will also apply for an extended technical life for Norne by 2021," the company said.

-Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]; Twitter: @WSJNordics

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