The Tyrihans subsea project in the Norwegian Sea has been formally inaugurated, a staggering 20 months after commercial production started from Tyrihans South, a gas-capped oil field, and Tyrihans North, a gas and condensate field with a thin oil zone.
Tyrihans comprises five seabed templates. Four are used for production and gas injection, while the fifth is used for sea water injection.
Operator Statoil said that the technology developed for the project had set a new standard for the development of subsea fields.
Tyrihans is tied back to the installations and infrastructure of the Kristin and Asgard fields, located on the Halten Bank.
The wellstream is transported through a 43.6km pipeline to Kristin for processing. Gas is exported from Kristin via the Asgard transport pipeline to the Karsto facility in Rogaland, Norway. Oil and condensate are piped to the storage vessel Asgard C for onward transport by tanker.
Tyrihans’ reserves are of a similar scale to those of Kristin, and both share a joint operational organisation.
“Tyrihans will make a considerable contribution to our production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for many years to come, and will be strategically significant for the development of our activities in the Norwegian Sea,” said Statoil’s Oystein Michelsen, vice-president for development and production offshore Norway.
According to Statoil, it is the early involvement and close co-operation between the various disciplines in petroleum technology, drilling and wells that made development of well equipment for this field possible.
Multilateral and smart wells with downhole regulatory equipment have improved the overall control of reservoir production, and pumps for sea water injection on the seabed help recovery.
Since coming on-stream, Statoil says the project has exceeded expectations. It produces around 100,000 barrels oil equivalent per day.