Norway green-lights Sigyn lifetime extension

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), a government agency that manages oil and gas resources, has granted consent for continued use of the subsea facilities on the Sigyn field in the North Sea from the end of 2017 until the end of 2022.

The licensees in Sigyn are ExxonMobil, the operator, with 40 percent and Statoil with 60 percent.

Just last month, ExxonMobil received consent from the Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), to extend the lifetime of the facilities on the Sigyn field.

According to the agency, in its application, ExxonMobil referred to current estimates which indicate production until the end of 2022.

Sigyn’s subsea facilities comprise wells and a subsea template, a pipeline to Sleipner A, as well as an umbilical for controlling and monitoring of wells.

A new development well was drilled on Sigyn in 2016, which has contributed to the extended lifetime. The Sigyn field encompasses the deposits Sigyn Vest, which contains gas and condensate, and Sigyn Øst, which contains light oil. The field was developed with a subsea template connected to the Sleipner Øst platform. Production started in 2002.

Original oil deposits amounted to 1.2 million standard cubic meters (7.5 million barrels). The NPD said that remaining oil to produce is estimated at 0.9 million standard cubic meters (5.6 million barrels). Out of the original gas reserves of 8 million standard cubic meters, about 1 million remains to produce.