A plan for development and operation (PDO) of Sygna has been submitted by Statoil to Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
Located in the north-east corner of the Statfjord area, this North Sea field contains recoverable reserves totalling roughly 63 million barrels of oil.
It is shared between two production licences. While 55 per cent lies in block 33/9, part of Statfjord's PL 037, the remainder falls inside block 34/7. This is in PL 089, covering Snorre.
The development solution embraces a subsea template with two production wells tied back by a flowline to Statfjord C, 21 kilometres away. Water will also be injected into the field through an extended-reach well drilled from the Statfjord North satellite.
Total investment in Sygna is put at NOK 1.4 billion, with production due to start on 1 August 2000.
"The economics of this project are good," says project manager Øyvind Haugane. "It meets Statoil's requirements for rate of return even at an oil price down towards USD 6-7 per barrel."
An alternative solution involving a tie-in with Saga Petroleum's Snorre field has also been considered, but the present proposals yielded the best economics.
Part of an overall plan for Statfjord's northern area, the Sygna development was one of four projects postponed by the Norwegian authorities in March. The government has determined that no investment should be made on the field before 1 July 1999.
However, Statoil has applied to the ministry for permission to begin spending on 1 February so that it can exploit the planned turnaround on Statfjord C to implement the project.
"Sygna will help to fulfil our goal of producing profitably on Statfjord C until 2020," says Mr Haugane.