Repsol Gets Nod for Varg Decommissioning

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has granted Repsol a consent for the removal of Petrojarl Varg and subsea structures on the Varg field.

Varg is an oil field in the North Sea, around 220 kilometres south-west of Utsira in Rogaland county.

The field was developed using the Varg A wellhead facility, subsea structures and the Petrojarl Varg mobile production facility (FPSO). Production from the field began in 1998.

Repsol Norge AS (Repsol) is the operator of the Varg field, following its 2015 buy-out of Talisman, which had been the operator since 2005. The Teekay shipping company has been responsible for running the two facilities on the field on behalf of the operator.

Repsol plans to cease production from the field in June 2016, and has applied for consent to remove Petrojarl Varg and the subsea structures on the field.

Petrojarl Varg will leave the field in August 2016, while removal of the subsea structures will start later in the third quarter. The Varg A wellhead facility will remain in place while plugging and removal of the wells takes place.