Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway -- Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway has approved Statoil’s plan to upgrade the water injection system at the Gullfaks B platform in the North Sea.
The modification is designed to increase capacity from a current of 35,000 cu m/d (1.24 MMcf/d) of water to 70,000 cu m/d (2.5 MMcf/d). In addition, a new power cable will be installed between Gullfaks B and the Gullfaks A platform.
Work will be performed without the need for a shutdown of facilities, and the program should be completed during fall 2013.
According to PSA, the current 20-in. (51-cm) transfer line for injection water between the two platforms will no longer be used when the new facility is put into operation. The pipeline will be disconnected and blinded at both ends.
The Gullfaks oil and gas field is in block 34/10 in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea. Gullfaks A started production in December 1986, followed by Gullfaks B in February 1988, and Gullfaks C in November 1989.
Produced oil is loaded into buoys on the field, while the gas is transported by pipeline for treatment at the gas facility at Kårstø in Rogaland.
Oil and gas from Gullfaks B are sent to A and C for treatment and storage.
02/22/2011
