David Paganie • Houston
The North Sea is heating up, led by a record level of development projects underway on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. About 20 projects are in various stages of development, with at least two scheduled to achieve first production by the end of 2019 or early 2020. This points to the industry’s ongoing efforts to reduce project break-even costs to levels that enable economic feasibility and compete with other resource plays such as US onshore shale. The near-term result in Norway will be an increase in production to the highest level in recent years. Meanwhile, the number of planned exploration wells for this year in the Norwegian Sea is up from the total count of exploration wells drilled in each of the last two years. These and other E&P trends are highlighted in this month’s special coverage of the North Sea, beginning on page 20.
One of the major projects in the Norwegian Sea that is due onstream by the end of next year is the $10.7-billion first phase of Equinor-operated Johan Sverdrup. The project timeline – just over four years after final approval from Norway’s government – was facilitated by Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, writes Jeremy Beckman, Offshore Editor, Europe. Earlier this year, the 382-m (1,253-ft) long, 124-m (407-ft) wide vessel undertook its first-ever topsides installation, the 22,000-metric ton (24,251-ton) Johan Sverdrup drilling platform, completing the world-record single-lift operation in only three hours. The vessel will return to the field complex next spring to install the topsides for the two remaining Phase 1 platforms. The single-lift approach, as opposed to the standard multiple module lifts for large platforms, had reportedly trimmed three months off the Phase 1 schedule and reduced the overall cost by around NOK1 billion ($124 million). Beckman offers a detailed account of the installation campaign, beginning on page 24.
Meanwhile, Aker BP is looking to extend the lifespan of one of the longest producing fields in the Norwegian North Sea, Valhall, to 2060. A series of initiatives are underway to sustain production including drilling previously untapped reserves on different parts of the field and the wider Valhall area, some via new platforms; expanding water injection; and applying novel technical solutions to improve drilling efficiency and recovery. See page 28 for Jeremy Beckman’s full report on the Valhall field life extension project.
Elsewhere in the North Sea, preparations are advancing for the early production system for the Hurricane Energy-operated Lancaster oilfield. The field is in the west of Shetland region of the UK continental shelf. It will be the first sustained attempt to produce oil from a fractured basement reservoir in northwest Europe, writes Jeremy Beckman. The project is due to reach first oil during the first half of 2019. Beckman’s report and interview with Hurricane CEO Dr. Robert Trice begins on page 20.
