Roughly half the 72 defective flowline welds on Statoil’s Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea have now been fixed, with repair work set to continue until next summer.
The programme has been costed at roughly NOK 2.6 billion, and Statoil is claiming for this expenditure under its insurance.
“Safety and environmental considerations must take first priority in the work now under way on Åsgard,” says Thor Haakon Helgesen, senior vice president for Statoil’s Halten-Nordland core area.
While the Åsgard B gas platform is shut down, all its critical systems are being verified. This has identified a need to upgrade parts of the gas export system affected by vibration problems.
Work on the gas transport system is being implemented in two stages, starting with measures required immediately.
The concluding phase will be carried out when flowlines running to the Midgard structure are repaired in May-June 2002. That means Åsgard B will gradually come back on stream around the New Year.
Repairs on the field will postpone oil and condensate production totalling about 11,800 barrels per day for Statoil in 2001.
Gas customers in Europe have been receiving replacement supplies from other Norwegian fields while Åsgard B is shut down.