The licensees in the Statoil operated Mikkel field in the Norwegian Sea submitted a plan for development and operation (PDO) to the authorities yesterday, 5 July.
Plans call for the gas and condensate field to start production in the autumn of 2003, continuing until 2017. Development costs are estimated at NOK 2.4 billion in current money.
Mikkel lies on the Halten Bank, 35 kilometres south of the Midgard deposit in the Åsgard licence. The field will be developed as a subsea system with the wellstream transferred to Statoil's Åsgard B platform via Midgard. The system will comprise two subsea templates, with two production wells each. The processing facilities on Åsgard B will be modified to be able to receive the wellstream and the control room on the platform will be modified to control the Mikkel subsea system.
The gas will be transported through the Åsgard Transport trunkline to the processing plant at Kårstø, north of Stavanger. The condensate will flow through an existing line to the Åsgard C storage ship for export.
Nina Udnes Tronstad, acting vice president for the Halten/Nordland area, says that Mikkel is the first field – and hopefully there will be others – in the area which can be realised by utilising the infrastructure established through the Åsgard development.
The licensees in Mikkel are ExxonMobil with 33.48 per cent, Norsk Hydro with 10 per cent and Statoil with 56.52 per cent.