ConocoPhillips starts production from first redevelopment of shut-in field in Norway

Oil major ConocoPhillips and its partners in the Tor Unit have started production from the Tor II project, which is located offshore Norway.

The Tor II project is a redevelopment of the Tor field, which was on production from 1978 through 2015.

It is the first redevelopment of a shut-in field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and start-up is only 12 months after approval of Plan for Development and Operation by the Norwegian authorities.

Namely, the plan for the development of the Tor II was submitted in July 2019 and approved in November 2019.

Announcing the project start-up on Thursday, ConocoPhillips said that the Tor II project is one of several development opportunities in the Greater Ekofisk Area that enable continued efficient operations towards 2050.

The project is a two-by-four slot Subsea Production System (SPS) with eight production wells. The SPS is connected to the Ekofisk Complex by multiphase production and gas lift pipelines to existing risers at the Ekofisk 2/4 M wellhead platform.

Controls and utilities are provided through a service umbilical from the same existing platform. The new greenfield facilities are located approximately one kilometre west of the original Tor platform with no connection to the shut-in facilities.

Seven production wells are planned to be drilled in the Tor formation. In addition, a pilot well is planned to test long-term productivity in the Ekofisk formation.

The resource potential for the Tor II project is in the range of 60-70 million barrels of oil equivalent. Two wells are now producing, and the remaining wells will consecutively be put on production the coming months, ConocoPhillips said.

Total capital investments are now estimated to NOK 6.4 billion ($721.7M) gross. The Tor II project has a Brent cost of supply below $30.

“Having produced the Tor field for 37 years, we are proud to continue to extend development enabling an expected production lifetime beyond 60 years”, said Steinar Vaage, president, Europe, Middle East & North Africa.

The Tor field, discovered in 1970, is a unitized chalk field located in licences PL018 and PL006 in blocks 2/4 and 2/5, about 13 kilometres northeast of the Ekofisk field located in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

The original development comprised a single manned production platform, Tor 2/4 E, from which oil and associated gas were exported, via pipeline, to the Ekofisk Complex from 1978 until year-end 2015, when the platform lifetime expired.

Operator ConocoPhillips Skandinavia currently holds a 30.66 per cent ownership of the Tor Unit, while the remaining stake is held by Total (48.20 per cent), Vår Energi (10.82 per cent), Equinor (6.64 per cent), and Petoro (3.69 per cent).