Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway -Hydro, as operator, has submitted the development and operations plan for Vega and Vega South fields to the Norwegian Ministry of Oil & Energy. The Vega plans calls for subsea development in blocks 35/8 and 35/11 in 380 m (1,247 ft) of water.

Under the plan, three seabed templates will be installed, two tied into Vega North and Vega Central structures and the third to Vega South at a cost of $969 million for the subsea facilities, pipelines, and production wells.

The Vega partners also contributed $307 million to Gjøa where the Vega production will be processed.

Vega production startup is planned for October 2010. The total recoverable reserves are estimated at 18 bcf of gas and 26 MMbbl of condensate. At its peak, production will reach 7 MMcm of gas and 25,000 bbl of condensate per day. Gas will be exported via the Gjøa field through a new gas pipeline that will be connected to the British FLAGS pipeline to St. Fergus in Scotland. Condensate will be transported to the Mongstad refinery through a new oil pipeline from Gjøa that will be tied into the Troll Oil Pipeline II.

12/19/2006