Lundin starts production from Edvard Grieg tie-back

Swedish oil company Lundin Energy has started production from the extended well test (EWT) at its Rolvsnes offshore field – the first subsea tie-back development for the Edvard Grieg platform.

The Rolvsnes field is located in PL338C on the southern side of the Edvard Grieg field and is a weathered and fractured granite basement reservoir.

During 2018, the successful drilling and testing of a horizontal appraisal well were completed which flowed 7,000 bopd, demonstrating good reservoir productivity.

The appraisal well has been converted to a development well and tied back the three-kilometre distance to the Edvard Grieg platform, with the project being completed on schedule and the budget cost estimate. The resource estimate for the Rolvsnes field is between 14 and 78 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) gross.

Lundin said on Tuesday that the objective of the EWT was to gain a better understanding of the reservoir properties, reservoir connectivity, and long-term production performance of the field.

If successful, this test has the potential to unlock a full-field development for Rolvsnes, further extending the plateau production period for Edvard Grieg.

Lundin added that, once sufficient data and production experience has been gathered, a plan for development and operation (PDO) could be submitted by the end of 2022 to benefit from the temporary tax regime in Norway.

A successful test could also derisk significant additional resource potential in weathered and fractured granite basement reservoirs on the Utsira High.

Nick Walker, President and CEO of Lundin Energy, said: “One of our strategic priorities is to extend plateau production on Edvard Grieg keeping the facilities full in the long term. We have successfully managed to extend the Edvard Grieg plateau by over five years already, through successfully unlocking resources within the Edvard Grieg field and through near field tie-back developments.

“The Rolvsnes EWT is the first tie-back development into our operated Edvard Grieg hub and production data from the EWT will provide vital information to potentially unlock the full field development of the Rolvsnes field, as well as further weathered and fractured basement reservoir opportunities on the Utsira High”.

Lundin Energy is the operator of PL338C with an 80 per cent working interest, with the remaining interest held by OMV.