Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway –More platforms could be featured in later phases of the Johan Sverdrup development in the central Norwegian North Sea.
Kjetil Digre, Statoil’s facilities project manager said at ONS that various concepts were under review to drain the extensive field, which could hold recoverable reserves of up to 2.9 Bbboe.
Assuming sanction next spring from Norway’s parliament for thefirst-phase development plan, production should start in late 2019.
Last December Statoil awarded Aker Solutions a framework contract to provide engineering, procurement, and management assistance for the project for up to 10 years. Following concept studies last year the contractor has been working on front-end engineering design and expects to deliver its draft report during the fall.
The first phase calls for four bridge-linked, heavyweight fixed platforms supported by steel jackets, which Kvaerner is assembling in Norway. The process platform will have an oil handling capacity of 315,000 b/d, divided into two trains, and a gas capacity of 6MMcm/d (212 MMcf/d). Topsides facilities will include three-stage separators, gas dehydration, gas recompression, and produced water processing equipment.
Alongside, the combined riser/utility platform, accommodating 45 risers and J-tubes and 10 caissons, will provide water and chemical injection, oil and gas export, and power for the first-phase facilities (supplied through asubsea power link from shore). It will also be available for future phase tie-ins.
Thedrilling platform is based on a 4 x 12 well slot configuration (48 slots in total) and will additionally enable well intervention. Finally, the 450-cabin living quarter platform will house the field operations command center, and will be the location for a permanently stationed search and rescue helicopter.
There are no standout technological advances in the first phase, said Valborg Lundegaard, Aker Solutions’ head of engineering. More challenging, she claimed, was the scale of the logistics for the development, notably the huge number of vessels that will interact during the installation phase.
One issue that Aker and Kvaerner are working to address is the unusual seafloor conditions – hard rock overlying soft soil – and how this might affect the stability of the jacket legs over time.
8/27/14
