Aker BP has announced the start-up of production at the Kobra East & Gekko (KEG) project in the central North Sea, several months ahead of its initial target.
Operated by Aker BP (OSE:AKRBP), with partner ConocoPhillips, the project comprises of two discoveries – Kobra East and Gekko – and is located in licence 203 in the central North Sea near the UK-Norwegian maritime boundary.
The field has been developed via new subsea installations tied back to the Alvheim floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Recoverable reserves are estimated at around 40 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
In addition to starting up several months earlier than estimated, Aker BP said the development had also been delivered “under the original budget of NOK 8 billion” or around £600m.
In its Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) submitted to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in June 2021, it had targeted a start-up in the first quarter of 2024. The project was given the green light by authorities in early 2022.
“The KEG project execution is a fantastic example of what we can achieve with the alliance model, working as one team with our suppliers towards a common goal and with shared incentives,” commented Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik.
“The successful start-up of production from KEG also represents a new chapter in Alvheim’s proud history of being among the most cost-efficient oil and gas producers on the Norwegian shelf with a resource base that has multiplied since start-up.”
Development involved around 42km of drilling from a total of four multi-branch wells in the reservoir.
“This has really been a one team project where alliance partners and strategic suppliers have delivered safely and efficiently and with a continuous search for improvements,” added KEG project manager, Ronny Åsbø.
“The drilling performance at KEG has been world class. This has contributed significantly to the safely and successful “below budget and ahead of schedule” deliveries. There have as well been very good deliveries from the other delivery lines in the project.”
Moreover, the additional throughput at Alvheim will significantly reduce its overall emission intensity per barrel and secure its operation in the 2040s.
“The KEG project adds important volumes to the existing production capacity at Alvheim FPSO and will enable extended lifetime up to 2040. The ongoing Tyrving project, which is estimated to come on stream in 2025, will add further production to the FPSO,” added Alvheim director, Ine Dolve.
“The partnership also sees great opportunities for adding further discoveries to the existing infrastructure in the area,” adds Dolve.
Since the start-up of production from Alvheim in 2008, nearly 600 million barrels of oil equivalent have been produced from the area.
It comes months after another tieback to the FPSO, Frosk, was also brought online in the spring.
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