Production on the North Sea Brage field is scheduled to cease in 2005. When the field's 10th anniversary was celebrated on Wednesday, an optimistic production organization was busy making preparations for a "further 10 years" of profitable operations.
Brage's production personnel had every reason to celebrate the day. Following an extensive re-organization, they have recently cut annual costs by 25 percent.
They have thus set an example for other fields making the transition to a mature phase, where the revenues do not justify big production organizations.
The 10th anniversary celebrations were held on 24 September. Cake was served in the canteens, both on the Brage platform and on shore. On the platform, the celebrations also took on a musical form when blues singer John Magnar Bernes, better known as Hungry John, made an appearance.
Offshore installation manager Gunnar Nakken was more than happy to celebrate the 10th anniversary, but underlined that he is more concerned about the future:
"We have adopted the slogan '10 more years' on the 2010+ project. That's my focus now. I can see a lot of opportunities for 10 more years of profitable operations on Brage," says Nakken.
Drilling campaign
At the same time as the celebrations were held, new drilling operator Prosafe started drilling two new side track wells in the Fensfjord reservoir.
"We need success with new wells to achieve the profitability targets set for us. It's a race against the clock to locate new reserves. But I am optimistic and believe that the drilling campaign will give us new oil reserves," he continues.
"We have invested NOK 30 million per year in gathering 4D seismic that we are using actively when planning further wells. New drilling techmology, focusing on reduced well costs, is also an important strategy for a mature field such as Brage. New reserves on Brage Nord are what I hope will take us past 2010."