STATOIL ASA (STO)

3.1.6 Development

3.1.6.1 Fields under development

The following fields are currently under development on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The Alve field, in which we hold an 85% interest, is located in PL159B in the Norwegian Sea, 14 kilometres south west of the Norne field. The PDO was submitted to the Norwegian authorities in January 2007 and approved in March 2007. The field will be developed through the installation of a four-slot subsea wellhead template that will be tied back to the Norne Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO). Production is scheduled to start in early 2009. The total investment for the project is estimated to be NOK 2.7 billion. Production commenced on 19 March, 2009.

Gjøa is located in the North Sea and will be developed by installing a subsea production system and a semi-submersible production platform. Gas will be exported via FLAGS pipeline to St. Fergus and oil export through the Troll 2 pipeline to the StatoilHydro-operated Mongstad refinery near Bergen. The Gjøa platform will process and export volumes from both the Gjøa field and the neighbouring Vega fields. The platform will be supplied with land-based electricity from Mongstad. The total investments are estimated to be NOK 31.2 billion. We hold a 20% interest in Gjøa. Production is scheduled to start in late 2010.


Morvin, in which we hold an interest of 64%, is an oil and gas field located in the Norwegian Sea, 15 kilometres north-west of Åsgard. The field was discovered in 2001 and the Plan for Development and Operation was submitted in February 2008 and approved by the Norwegian authorities in April 2008. The field will be a subsea development with two templates tied in to Åsgard B for processing through a 20 kilometres long wellstream pipeline. The development of Morvin is currently estimated to require capital expenditure of NOK 9 billion, and production from the field is estimated to commence in late 2010.

The PDO for Skarv was submitted in June 2007 and approved by the Norwegian Parliament in December 2007. Skarv is an oil and gas field located in the Norwegian Sea, in which we have an interest of 36.165% and for which BP is the operator. Skarv extends across three production licences (PL212/262 Skarv and PL 159 Idun). The field is being developed with an FPSO vessel and five subsea installations. Oil will be exported by offshore loading, and gas will be exported via the Åsgard export system. Production is expected to start in August 2011, and the total development cost is estimated by the operator BP to be NOK 36.4 billion.

Tyrihans, in which we hold an interest of 58.8%, is located in the Norwegian Sea and consists of two hydrocarbon accumulations: Tyrihans South (an oilfield with associated gas) and Tyrihans North (a gas field with a thin oil zone). The fields will be developed with subsea wells drilled and completed from five subsea templates, four dedicated production/gas injection and one for injection of raw sea water. The well stream will be transported in one pipeline to the Kristin platform for processing. Gas injection for reservoir pressure support is provided from Åsgard B through a gas injection pipeline to Tyrihans. Both the production pipeline between Tyrihans and Kristin and the gas injection pipeline between Åsgard B and Tyrihans, as well as the subsea well templates, were installed in 2007. Production is scheduled to start in mid-2009. The total development costs are estimated to be NOK 14.9 billion.

The Vega/Vega Sør project comprises the development of three separate gas-condensate accumulations: Vega Nord and Vega Sentral in PL248 and Vega Sør in PL090C. Our ownership interests in the licences are 60% and 45%, respectively. The fields are located in the North Sea. Three four-slot templates will be installed, and production will be transported to the Gjøa installation in a common pipeline. The total investments for the project are estimated to be NOK 7.9 billion. Production is scheduled to start in late 2010.

The Yttergryta subsea gas and condensate field development, with an investment value of approximately NOK 1.4 billion, is an excellent example of a relatively small but significant project in our portfolio, since it was developed so quickly. The discovery was made in the summer of 2007 and the PDO was submitted in January 2008. Production drilling commenced in September 2008 and the wellstream will be tied back to Åsgard B platform via Midgard flow line for processing and further export. We hold a 45.75% interest in the project. Production started in January 2009.

The table below shows some key figures for our major development projects.

3.1.6.2 Redevelopments

The following projects are being developed on the NCS to give existing installations a new lease of life or exploit new opportunities.

Oseberg Low Pressure involves the installation of two new production manifolds for low-pressure wells with tie-in to second stage separators. Production is planned to start in late 2009.

The Snorre Redevelopment project is defined as an IOR project and will contribute to achieve the Snorre Unit and Vigdis overall oil recovery ambition. The project includes a water injection pipeline from Statfjord C to the Vigdis field.

The Statfjord Late Life project will convert Statfjord into a mainly gas-producing field by changing the drainage strategy. Export of gas to the UK through a new pipeline connected to the existing pipelines to Flags and St. Fergus commenced in late 2007. The total investments in the project are estimated to be NOK 19.6 billion.

Troll Field projects includes the Troll B Gas Injection project and the Troll A P12 Pipeline Project. The main goal for these projects is IOR from Troll B and enabling the Troll field to maintain an average gas export capacity of 120 million standard cubic metres per day and a long term gas export capacity of 30 giga standard cubic metres per year.

The Troll B Gas Injection project includes two gas injectors in the Troll West Gas Province south. Start up is planned in 2011.

The Troll A P12 project includes a new 62.5 kilometres 36 inch pipeline between Troll A and Kollsnes, modifications on Troll A and interface with Kollsnes plant. Pipeline is planned to start in late 2011.

The Troll C - O2 Template, which will be located north west of the Troll C platform, is defined as an IOR project. The O2 Template will be tied back to the existing O1 Template, which is tied back to Troll C. Drilling is expected to start in late 2009 and production is planned to start in 2010.

A new low-pressure compressor module on Troll C will be installed to increase capacity, and thereby production and recovery from Troll Vest. Production is planned to start in 2010.

Tune Sør is a single satellite well tied back via the Tune Main template to the Oseberg Field Centre. Tie-in and production start up are planned for mid-2009.