Norway: Statoil Ready for Gudrun Development

The plan for development and operation (PDO) of the North Sea Gudrun field was approved by the Norwegian Parliament on 16 June. Production is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2014.

”This is an important day for us,” says Øystein Michelsen, executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway (EPN).

“The Gudrun field will add important volume, improve the capacity utilisation on Sleipner and help maintain the production level on the Norwegian continental shelf.”

Gudrun is to be developed with a platform resting on the seabed including a traditional steel jacket weighing 7400 tonnes. The platform will have a processing facility for partial processing of oil and gas, before the hydrocarbons are piped to the Sleipner field.

On Sleipner the oil and gas from Gudrun will be further processed before the oil is transported to Kårstø together with the Sleipner condensate.

Carbon dioxide will be separated from the gas before it is exported to Europe via the Gassled system.

Power to the Gudrun platform will be supplied by cable from Sleipner.

Contracts awarded

A contract for transport and installation (T&I) has been awarded to Saipem UK Limited. The platform jacket and topside will be installed by the semi-submersible crane vessel S7000.

A contract for constructing the platform jacket has previously been awarded to Aker Solutions in Verdal.

The jacket is scheduled to be completed and installed in the summer of 2011 before drilling of the wells begins in October 2011. The remaining contracts for construction of the platform topside and living quarters, modification of the Sleipner A platform and the contract for pipeline fabrication and laying will be awarded later this year. Investment in field installations, pipelines and drilling of production wells will total almost NOK 21billion (USD $3.3 Billion)

Facts

* The Gudrun field is located in the North Sea around 55 kilometres north of Sleipner.

* The field was already discovered in 1974.

* Recoverable oil and gas reserves are estimated at 11.2 million standard cubic metres of oil and 6.6 billion standard cubic metres of gas respectively.

* The reservoir lies at depths of 4,200-4,700 metres in Jurassic sandstone.

* Licensees: Statoil (operator) (46.8%), Marathon Petroleum (28.2%) and GdF Suez (25%).

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Source: Statoil, June 17, 2010: