A new compressor installed on the Kvitebjørn field in the North Sea will extend the project’s life by eight years.
The firm confirmed the compressor will boost the recovery rate by up to 70%, increasing the field’s final production by an additional 220 million barrels of oil equivalent.
“These are very profitable barrels, which make a considerable contribution to wealth creation on the Norwegian continental shelf.
“Increased production and extended lifetime for the field also provides increased ripple effects across the entire value chain,” said Kjetil Hove, senior vice president for operations in Development and Production Norway in Statoil.
The compressor was installed to combat falling reservoir pressure. The additional barrels are equal to the output a firm can expect from a separate ‘medium-sized developed field’, according to the Norwegian operator.
Brownfield projects senior vice president Terese Kvinge added: “Many people don’t realise that these relatively small modules are able to contribute as much or more value as new fields and that they cost much less to develop because the platform is already in place.”
Output from the Kvitebjørn field is piped to Kollsnes near Bergen and Mongstad further north respectively, before being piped to continental Europe.
The firm added it was considering undertaking a second pre-compression phase on the installation.
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