Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Equinor has produced first oil ahead of schedule from the Snorre Expansion project in the Norwegian North Sea.
The IOR project, designed to access close to 200 MMbbl of recoverable oil and to extend the life of the Snorre field through 2040, was originally meant to come onstream during 1Q 2021.
Other partners are Petoro, Vår Energi, Idemitsu, and Wintershall Dea.
In addition, the final cost looks set to be more than NOK1 billion ($115 million) below the cost estimate in the plan for development and operation (PDO).
Investments in the Snorre Expansion project total NOK19.5 billion ($2.23 billion) in 2020 terms, and the development will be profitable even at much lower oil prices, Equinor said.
Snorre started production in 1992 and was originally expected to wind down between 2011 and 2014.
Three years ago, Equinor and its partners submitted a modified PDO that entailed raising the recovery factor from 46 to 51% for the 2 Bbbl field.
A total of 24 new wells will be drilled, divided among six subsea templates. Bundles connecting the new wells to the platform have been installed, along with new risers, and the program included a new module and modifications on the Snorre A platform.
Final preparations to receive oil from the new wells took place during a major turnaround this fall.
12/14/2020
