A revised plan for development and operation (PDO) submitted by operator Statoil for the Åsgard Q project in the Norwegian Sea has been approved by the Norwegian authorities.
This scheme involves the installation of a third (Q) template on the field’s Smørbukk South deposit, tied back to the Åsgard A production ship.
The template was recently stabilised on the seabed, with the first well to be drilled through this structure spudded on 28 April.
The Q template will be tied back to Åsgard A.
After experience had shown that drainage of Smørbukk South is not optimal with the existing well pattern, Statoil launched a project in 2003 to improve oil recovery from the reservoir.
“Åsgard Q will allow us to get an additional 26 million barrels of oil out of this deposit,” says Åge Kristensen, sub-surface manager for Smørbukk South.
Investment in the project, which also includes two parallel flowlines running about 13 kilometres from the template to Åsgard A, is put at roughly NOK 1.7 billion.
This project will be one of the fastest subsea developments on the Norwegian continental shelf, taking just over a year to complete from PDO submission to first oil.
Production from the Q template is due to start on 1 January 2005.