Remote subsea control set for water injection wells to boost Ekofisk oil production

Offshore staff

TANANGER, Norway – ConocoPhillips expects to expand water injection this year on the Ekofisk field in the southern Norwegian North Sea.

A new subsea installation –Ekofisk 2/4 VB – is due to enter service soon, and will be operated remotely from Tananger.

When completed, the installation will provide capacity to inject up to 100,000 b/d of water from eight subsea wells. Water will be supplied from the Eldfisk 2/7 E water injection platform via a new pipeline.

All eight wells on Ekofisk 2/4 VB will be “intelligent wells,” designed to allow water at all times be injected into chosen zones in the reservoir to achieve the best result. They will also be the first intelligent wells to be automated and controlled from a land-based operations center.

ConocoPhillips has implemented water injection on Ekofisk since 1987; the main aim is to provide pressure support to increase production of hydrocarbons from the Cretaceous reservoir. More recently, water injection has been extended to the Eldfisk reservoir.

On the main Ekofisk field, the original recovery rate of 17% has risen to 52%, partly due to the impact of the chosen scheme.

In total, about 550,000 b/d are injected into the two fields. The treated seawater is pumped under high pressure into the ground from wells at the platforms at Ekofisk 2/4 K and 2/4 V, andEldfisk 2/7 A and 2/7 B.

01/02/2013