The Hyme field is build with a subsea template tied in to existing infrastructure on the Njord A platform.
“The field came on stream one month earlier than we assumed in the plan for development and operation (PDO). The project execution period from we decided to use Njord A as a tie-in platform and to first oil is thus slightly more than two years, which we are very pleased with,” says Halfdan Knudsen, head of the “fast-track” portfolio in Development and Production Norway (DPN).
Halfdan Knudsen, head of the “fast-track” portfolio in Statoil Development and Production Norway.
(Photo: Harald Pettersen)
The “fast-track” projects consist of discoveries made close to existing fields. In the longer term the aim is to bring these projects from discovery to first oil within 30 months.
On schedule
“We have now gained useful experience which helps us accelerate forthcoming development projects, and execution in 30 months will thus be feasible for most of the prospects to be drilled in 2013. We are now on schedule and within budget for Hyme and the other projects. Good portfolio management and good cooperation across the business areas are critical success factors,” Knudsen says.
The Hyme field was discovered at Haltenbanken in June 2009, 19 kilometres north-east of the Njord A platform. It is tied in to existing infrastructure on Njord A. Hyme extends the production life of the Njord field from 2015 to 2020. The field development plan includes a production well and a water injection well drilled through a subsea template with four well slots. The installation of five new risers and Njord A modifications to receive Hyme production are also part of the project. The investments total some NOK 4.5 billion.
“This development will revitalise the entire area, open for further expansion and increase the production life of Njord,” Knudsen says.
Increased volumes
Due to the high reservoir complexity an unconventional well solution has been chosen for Hyme. It involves the use of a multilateral well for optimal drainage of the reservoir.
Kjetel Digre, head of the fast-track and subsea project portfolio in Statoil Technology, Projects and Drilling. (Photo: Øyvind Hagen)
“The chosen optimised drainage solution increases the estimated recoverable volumes from Hyme by about 17 percent compared with the assumption at the basis for the PDO. According to recent estimates Hyme contains some 30 million barrels of recoverable reserves. With the field’s life expected to last beyond 2020, further volume increases may be expected at Njord. We have successfully delivered another high-quality fast-track project before schedule and below budget. Good cooperation with our partners and suppliers has been essential to this successful execution,” says Kjetel Digre, head of the fast-track and subsea project portfolio in Technology, Projects and Drilling (TPD).
“Hyme has added good synergies in relation to the upgrading of the Njord A platform and the Njord low-pressure production project performed in 2012. The extensive Njord activities have been performed in parallel with the Hyme reconstruction. This was possible thanks to the use of a flotel moored up at Njord in the autumn of 2012, which helped ensure the necessary capacity for the performance of all work,” Knudsen says.
FACTS ABOUT HYME
• Discovered: June 2009
• Production start: 25 February 2013
• PDO approved: 24 June 2011
• Location: Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea
• Volumes: 30 million barrels of oil equivalent. Mainly oil, and some gas.
• Water depth: 250 metres
• Partners: Core Energy (17.5%), VNG (2.5%), Faroe Petroleum (7.5%), E.ON E&P (17.5%), GDF Suez (20%), Statoil (35%)