Engineering news
Norwegian energy company Statoil has won approval for its proposed development and operation for the Utgard and Byrding oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Utgard is a gas and condensate field on Norwegian and UK continental shelf, while Byrding is an oil and gas field north of the Troll field.
Utgard straddles the UK-Norway median line, with the majority of the reserves being located on the Norwegian side. The field development includes two wells in a standard subsea concept, with one drilling target on each side of the median line. The installations and infrastructure will be located in the Norwegian sector.
The Byrding development includes a duo-lateral well drilled from the existing Fram H-Nord subsea template through which oil and gas from Byrding will flow to Troll C. The duo-lateral well to be drilled is approximately 7km long, the first kilometers being shared by the two laterals.
Torger Rød, senior vice-president for project development in Statoil, said: “These projects will give valuable new volumes to the Sleipner and Troll field. Efficient utilisation of existing infrastructure contributes to reducing the costs and make these developments profitable.”
The Byrding field is scheduled to come on stream in the third quarter of 2017, while Utgard is planned to come on stream in forth quarter of 2019.
Meanwhile, Statoil has agreed to divest 25% of its assets in Hywind Scotland pilot park, the world’s first floating wind farm, to Masdar. The companies have agreed to share the development risk and Masdar will cover 25% of previous and future costs. Following this divestment Statoil holds a 75% share in Hywind Scotland.
Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil’s executive vice-president for New Energy Solutions, said: "With Masdar onboard as a strong strategic partner we are teaming up with a company with high ambitions within renewable energy. We believe Masdar can be a strong partner also in future Hywind projects and we hope that our collaboration will result in future value creation opportunities for both parties."
The wind farm offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire will power approximately 20,000 households when in production from late 2017.