First oil flows from subsea tie-back to North Sea FPSO months ahead of schedule

Norway’s oil and gas player Aker BP has kicked off production from an offshore oil field project in the North Sea, which has been tied back to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel operating off the coast of Norway.

With a planned investment of about NOK 6 billion or around $700 million in June 2023, Aker BP embarked on the development of Trell & Trine, renamed Tyrving, in the Alvheim area, which was expected to come on stream in the first quarter of 2025.

However, the company confirmed the start of oil production from the project on September 3, 2024. This means the first oil from the Tyrving field came more than three months before it was due.  The field is operated by Aker BP, with Petoro and PGNiG Upstream Norway as partners.

Furthermore, the Tyrving development, which is said to leverage the planned extended lifetime for the Alvheim field, is expected to increase production while curbing unit costs and CO2 emissions per barrel. The recoverable resources are estimated at approximately 25 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Subsea 7, which tapped Global Energy Group in January 2024 for work on the project, was hired on an engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract for the pipelines, spools, protection covers, and tie-ins.

On the other hand, Aker Solutions was put in charge of the subsea production system, encompassing three horizontal subsea trees, two manifolds, control systems, 30km subsea umbilical, and installation work for the project in August 2022.

Consisting of three wells and two new subsea installations (manifolds), tied back to the existing infrastructure at East Kameleon and further to the FPSO Alvheim, Tyrving is anticipated to operate with low emissions, estimated at just 0.3 kg of CO2 per barrel.

The Alvheim field consists of the Kneler, Boa, Kameleon, and East Kameleon structures, subsequently joined by the Viper-Kobra structures and the Gekko discovery. The Alvheim area includes satellite fields Bøyla, Vilje, Volund, and Skogul connected to the FPSO Alvheim that has been on stream since June 2008.

While the Skogul field was tied into Alvheim and started production in 2020, Frosk began production in 2023. Aker BP also commenced production from the Kobra East & Gekko (KEG) oil and gas fields a few months ahead of schedule.

Currently, the Norwegian player is working on multiple projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), including a lifetime extension for the Valhall field.