Statoil will soon drill two new wells in an effort to increase the amount of oil it can recover from the Mariner area.
The Mariner A platform modules are expected to be taken to the field and lifted into place by the end of this month.
The Norwegian oil major will use that time to drill appraisal and exploration wells within tie-back range of Mariner, about 95miles east of Shetland.
Mariner is currently expected to yield 250million barrels over its 30-year production life, and create 700 long-term jobs.
But Uno Rognli, Statoil’s project director for Mariner, believes the firm can get more from the field, which has about 2billion barrels of oil in place.
Mr Rognli also expects improvements in technology to boost recovery from the heavy oil field.
Mariner was discovered in 1981, but it wasn’t until 2012, about five years after Statoil took over as operator, that an investment decision was made.
Mr Rognli said: “It was new technology and seismic data in 2012 that made it possible to see where the oil was in the Mariner reservoir and for us to have a good plan to develop the field.
“… If technology improves, we can get more oil out. Recovering 12.5% of the oil in place is quite a low number. But heavy oil fields are more complicated, so you can’t get 60-70% out.
“But in 30 years we should be able to get out more than 12.5%. There are technologies we should be looking at. We know the oil is there. We will look for other oil in the area that we can tie back to Mariner.”
He also said Statoil’s 2015 decision to delay Mariner by a year had worked out.
Statoil used the breathing room to modify the platform jacket, allowing production drilling to start ahead of the arrival of the Mariner A modules. It means production can get under way quickly.
Statoil’s Mariner team now has its hands full with preparations for the installation, hook-up and commissioning for the £4.5billion project.
Three of the five ships carrying modules for Mariner A are already in Shetland awaiting the arrival of the Saipem 7000 heavy lift vessel, which is expected on Friday.
Saipem 7000 will position the modules on the steel jacket, which was installed in 2015.
The Safe Boreas floating accommodation vessel will also arrive on site over the coming weeks.
The Mariner B floating storage unit has already been installed.
Hooking-up the field’s infrastructure will take about a year, with first oil expected in the second half of 2018.
Earlier this week, Statoil said the hook-up and commissioning phases would create about 1,500 new North Sea jobs.
The video shows the Mariner A utility and living quarter modules aboard the Dockwise Forte vessel and the flare on the Trustee ship.
Statoil is the operator of Mariner with 65.11% equity. Its partners are JX Nippon, which has a 20% share, Siccar Point Energy with 8.89% and Dyas with 6%.
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