THE NEW YORK TIMES: Statoil Plan Would Get More Oil in Field: “Statoil ASA on Friday presented a plan for squeezing more oil and natural gas out of the aging Statfjord development, the largest field in the North Sea.”: “Statoil, with a 44.3 percent interest in the field, operates Statfjord on behalf of partners that include ExxonMobil, with 21.36 percent; ConocoPhillips with 10.32 percent; and Norske Shell with 8.54 percent.” (ShellNews.net) Posted 26 Feb 05
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Statoil ASA on Friday presented a plan for squeezing more oil and natural gas out of the aging Statfjord development, the largest field in the North Sea.
The state-controlled company said an investment of 16 billion kroner ($2.6 billion) in the field and a new pipeline will extend its life by a decade until about 2020.
It will also produce an additional 25 million barrels of oil, and 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
``These quantities alone correspond to a medium-sized discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf,'' the company said.
Statoil, with a 44.3 percent interest in the field, operates Statfjord on behalf of partners that include ExxonMobil, with 21.36 percent; ConocoPhillips with 10.32 percent; and Norske Shell with 8.54 percent.
Statfjord, one of the oldest Norwegian fields, was discovered in 1974 and began producing in 1979. It straddles the North Sea median line between Norway and Britain, and currently produces about 160,000 barrels of oil a day from three platforms.
The field is about 135 miles northwest of Bergen, Norway's second city and the largest on the west coast.
The plan requires government approval, and Norwegian oil minister Thorhild Widvey said she was pleased that Statoil and its partners were proceeding with ``late life development'' of the field.
``Statfjord has been in production for 25 years, and as of today produced an unbelievable 4 billion barrels of oil,'' she said. ``This project makes it possible to recover a larger part of the resources from Statfjord (than) previously planned.''
Norway, the world's third largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia, has been urging oil companies to recover more petroleum from aging fields to supply a world hungry for oil.
Norwegian fields currently have a capacity of about 3.2 million barrels of oil per day, plus natural gas.
The Statfjord platforms are currently designed to produce oil, with natural gas as an associated product. The enhanced recovery project would reverse that, making gas the primary focus, with oil as a secondary product.
``This will be demanding, both in scope and investment, and presents the organization with major future challenges,'' said Oivind Reinertsen, Statoil's senior vice president for the region.
Without the modifications, Statoil said only 53 percent of the reserves would have been produced, a recovery rate typical for many oil fields.
``With the late life project, Statfjord will reach a recovery factor of close to 70 percent for oil and 75 percent for gas,'' Reinertsen said. ``That's absolutely at the top of the tree for recovery in world terms.''
On the Net: www.statoil.com
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Norway-Statoil.html