Statoil has, with its partners in the Snorre offshore field, decided to adjust the schedule for the ongoing Snorre 2040 project by postponing the planned date for the second decision gate (DG2) from March 2015 to October 2015.

Statoil said that there is no change in the timing of the final investment decision (DG3) and production start-up (DG4) for the field, located in the North Sea, offshore Norway.

According to Statoil, the concept selection was made late 2013, and the new Snorre C platform is currently being matured according to plan towards a final investment decision Q4 2016 and production start-up in Q4 2021.

The new platform would boost drilling capacity and, as a result, recovery on the Snorre field. According to Statoil’s plans the platform will be a minimum process tension leg platform (TLP) – similar to the Snorre A and Heidrun platforms.

The company has explained that the early phase of the project is extended to take full advantage of the improvement potential initiated by Statoil’s STEP (Statoil technical efficiency programme) programme and the current focus on cost efficiency within the industry.

“Profitability of a new Snorre C platform is challenging and it is important for the owners to secure quality in design and cost estimates prior to entering into FEED studies,” Statoil explained.

The Snorre oil field has been in production since 1992. The field has a complex reservoir, and represents one of the largest IOR (increased oil recovery) potentials on the Norwegian continental shelf.

When the plan for development and operation (PDO) was submitted, the estimated recovery rate was 25%. Currently 35% of the oil is produced and the estimated recovery rate from existing infrastructure is 47% by 2040. The Snorre partners have an ambition to increase the recovery rate to 54% by installing a new Snorre C platform and importing gas to the field.

The partners in the Snorre licence are Statoil, Petoro, ExxonMobil E&P Norway, Idemitsu Petroleum Norge, RWE Dea Norge, and Core Energy.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

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