Snorre seafloor cable laying to resume next summer

Dec. 2, 2013
Statoil and its partners installed seismic streamers this summer on the Snorre field in the North Sea, as part of a permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) project, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway – Statoil and its partners installed seismic streamers this summer on the Snorre field in the North Sea, as part of a permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) project, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

To date roughly 250 km (155 mi) of streamers have been laid but not all are buried or covered with rock, which makes them vulnerable to snagging from fishing activity and other impacts.

Work to complete the covering operation will re-start next summer and is expected to be completed during winter 2015. Over this period trawling will not be allowed in the area.

PRM involves permanent deployment of seafloor sensors to help obtain seismic images of changes in the reservoir over time. It is hoped that the added information will allow more oil to be recovered.

Snorre is in blocks 34/4 and 34/7, northeast of Gullfaks and southwest of BG’s current Knarr development, in a water depth of around 300 m (984 ft).

12/2/2013