Statoil goes to Aker for Kristin compression

Dec. 27, 2010
Statoil has contracted Aker Solutions to build and install a new low-pressure compressor module on the Kristin platform in the Norwegian Sea.

Offshore staff

STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil has contracted Aker Solutions to build and install a new low-pressure compressor module on the Kristin platform in the Norwegian Sea. The contract value is around $151 million.

The program is designed to increase recovery from the field and accelerate production by adapting the platform to changes in reservoir pressure.

Aker Solutions previously performed front-end engineering design for the modification and will manage the project from its offices in Bergen, with divisions in Trondheim and Egersund also involved.

Statoil hopes the new equipment will prolong the life of the Kristin field and associated installations through 2029 - 2034. Low pressure production on the Kristin and Tyrihans fields should increase total reserves recovery by up to 115 MMboe.

”The Kristin platform forms an important hub on the Halten Bank and this development enables us to prepare the ground for increased recovery in the short and long term,” says Ivar Aasheim, Statoil’s head of Operations North.

Oil and condensate from Kristin and Tyrihans is sent to the Åsgard C platform, with the gas piped via the Åsgard Transport trunkline to Kårstø. The well stream from the Tyrihans field is currently transported through a 43-km (26.7-mi) long pipeline to the Kristin platform for processing.
Installation is planned for the summer of 2013 and other hot work operations on the platform will be performed in tandem with the planned maintenance shutdown.

Earlier this month, following a routine inspection of the Kristin platform, a high temperature was reported on the outside of an exhaust duct on one of the gas turbines.

Statoil decided to halt production on Dec. 12, but was hoping to re-start operations by the end of December. The shut-down was expected to involve a deferment in production of 100,000 boe/d from the two fields.

12/28/2010