A front-end engineering design (Feed) contract has been awarded by Statoil to Aker Kværner Engineering & Technology for a production platform on the Gjøa field in the North Sea.
Awarded on behalf of the Gjøa licensees, the contract is based on Statoil's recommended solution with a semi-submersible production platform tied back to subsea wells.
"Gjøa is a demanding project with marginal profitability," says Einar Erfjord, head of the Gjøa steering committee. "The partners have therefore carefully considered alternative development solutions for the field. The preliminary study is now being started to facilitate the possible submission of a plan for development and operation (PDO) to the Norwegian authorities in the autumn of 2006."
Statoil aims to start producing in 2010.
Proven in 1989, Gjøa lies in blocks 35/9 and 36/7 about 70 kilometres north of the Troll field.
Recoverable reserves are put at 60 million barrels of oil and condensate and 35 billion standard cubic metres of gas.
The partners are Gaz de France Norge with 30 per cent, Petoro with 30 per cent, Statoil with 20 per cent, Shell with 12 per cent and RWE Dea Norway with eight per cent.
Statoil is the development operator for Gjøa, with Gaz de France scheduled to take over in the production phase.