Equinor and partners will breathe new life into the Gudrun field offshore Norway by investing £225 million in water injection equipment.
The project will extend the life of Gudrun, where production has been declining, by three years to 2032.
The field came on stream in 2014 and currently produces from seven wells.
Water produced from the Utsira formation will be reinjected into the reservoir to boost reservoir pressure and increase production.
A new production well will also be drilled as part of the Gudrun “phase two” development.
Energy service company Aibel will be paid £45m to build and install the water injection plant, which is expected to start up in 2021, and a further £55m for work on other oil wells at Gudrun.
The Rowan Stavanger rig has been booked to carry out production drilling on Gudrun.
Accommodation space on the rig will be made available to engineers carrying out plant installation work on Gudrun, whose living quarters are small.
Tom Elseth, Equinor’s project director for Gudrun, said: “We are pleased about the partnership’s decision to invest £225 million in further development of the Gudrun field.
“Water injection will improve recovery from the reservoir and utilize existing infrastructure on the field.”
Marit Lunde, vice president for Gudrun operations in development and production Norway, said: “This is a good example of how we secure long-term activity on the Norwegian continental shelf.
“Based on deeper understanding of the reservoir and technology development we are able to increase the recovery rate and value creation from the field while extending the field life to 2032, three years longer than originally scheduled in the plan for development and operation.”
Equinor is the licence operator with a 36% stake, Neptune has 25%, OMV has 24%, and Repsol is on 15%.
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