Statoil has revealed its ambition to extend the life of the Norne field to 2030.
The field, which came on stream in 1997, was due to shut down last year having produced some 700 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The recovery factor for the main Norne field today is 56.5% – a top result worldwide for production from subsea fields.
Kristin Westvik, Norne operations vice president, said: “Thanks to systematic maintenance of Norne for 17 years the vessel is now in a good technical condition.
“We have also aimed to facilitate improved recovery and phase-in of new discoveries to the Norne vessel. In light of this we are now considering extending Norne’s life to 2030.
“We now aim to increase the recovery factor to 60%. The remaining resources in the Norne area may total as much as 300 million barrels of oil equivalent—the equivalent of an Aasta Hansteen field.
“The studies conclude that the hull structure is solid and that the life can most likely be extended to 2036.
“We can thus make the necessary modifications at Norne in order to extend the productive life without bringing the FPSO ashore for an extensive period. This allows us time to thoroughly plan the road ahead for Norne 2030.”
Statoil said production currently flows from a full 15 subsea templates and in the Norne licence alone 26 exploration wells have been drilled.
The last subsea template to be installed was the Skuld fast-track project in 2013, which represented a total investment of almost NOK 10 billion.
In addition the Alve field and the Eni-operated Marulk field have been tied in to the Norne FPSO.
Last year a number of tests were conducted to clarify the technical condition of the hull of the Norne FPSO.
The company said It was necessary to determine whether the Norne FPSO needed a yard stay in 2018 in order to extend its technical life to 2030.
Mr Westvik added: “The studies conclude that the hull structure is solid and that the life can most likely be extended to 2036.
“We can thus make the necessary modifications at Norne in order to extend the productive life without bringing the FPSO ashore for an extensive period.
“This allows us time to thoroughly plan the road ahead for Norne 2030.”
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.
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