Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway– Equinor has started production from the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 field in the North Sea.
Remote-operated from the Oseberg field center, the newOseberg H platform is the first unmanned platform on the Norwegian continental shelf. Recoverable resources are 110 MMboe.
“With Oseberg H we take a huge technological leap forward. The fully automatic, unmanned and remote-operated platform is digitalization in practice, and I am proud of Equinor and its partners having chosen this in-house developed solution,” says Anders Opedal, Equinor’s executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling.
According to Equinor, the project was delivered at NOK6.5 billion ($798 million), more than 20% lower than the cost estimate of theplan for development and operation. The breakeven price has reduced from $34 to less than $20/bbl.
Maintenance campaigns are to be carried out once or twice a year on the platform. While theAskepott jackup rig is drilling wells through the platform, the maintenance personnel will stay on the rig. Afterwards the personnel will stay on a vessel hooked up to Oseberg H by a gangway.
“Oseberg H is the first platform of its kind on the Norwegian continental shelf, with no facilities, not even a toilet. The topside weighs only a good 1,000 tonnes, another example of simplification in practice. This platform only has the bare essentials,” says Opedal.
The alternative to an unmanned wellhead platform would have been subsea wells. The new concept, the company says, provides a competitive alternative in developing smaller discoveries.
“Oseberg H is a pilot and our first unmanned platform. We are further developing the concept and believe that the next version will be even more competitive,” says Opedal.
The 11 wells on Oseberg Vestflanken 2 will be drilled by theAskepott owned by the Oseberg license. Nine wells will be drilled through the Oseberg H platform and two through an existing subsea template. Pipelines and subsea equipment have also been installed.
Partners in the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 production license are Equinor Energy AS (49.3%), Petoro AS (33.6%), Total E&P Norge AS (14.7%), and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (2.4%).
10/15/2018
