The licensees in the Gjøa licence in the North Sea have decided to use a semi-submersible platform for the field development, targeting first oil and gas in 2010.
The aim is to send the plan for development and operation (PDO) to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy during the autumn. A final cost estimate will also be available by then.
”The Gjøa licensees are pleased that they have now agreed in favour of a development plan," says Einar Erfjord, leader of the Gjøa management committee. "Optimal oil production requires a platform on the field.”
The Gjøa field is located 70 kilometres north of the Troll field and some 45 kilometres off the coast of western Norway. Making the Gjøa project profitable has been demanding. It has therefore taken some time to arrive at the chosen development concept, which ties in the three Hydro-operated oil and gas deposits Camilla, Belinda and Fram B to Gjøa.
”This will have great coordination benefits and will support the further exploration and development of the area. In the long run it may also be relevant to tie in any new discoveries to the Gjøa facilities,” Mr Erfjord says.
The Gjøa partners go for Statoil’s recommended solution – a semi-submersible production platform tied back to subsea-completed wells. The partners so far plan to include four gas wells and eight to 10 oil wells in the field development project. The platform will get electrical power supplies from land. The concept was chosen based on health, environment and safety considerations, previous experience and profitability.
”The solution is well tested out on the Norwegian continental shelf," says Kjetel Rokseth Digre, Statoil’s project manager for Gjøa. "It facilitates optimal utilisation of the resources.”
Based on the current production plan more than 70% of the gas and just over 20% of the oil will be produced.
Located in blocks 35/9 and 36/7, Gjøa was proven in 1989. The reserves are estimated at 60 million barrels of oil and condensate and 35 billion cubic metres of gas. Gas from
Gjøa will be sent through the UK pipeline Flags to St Fergus in Scotland. The oil will be piped to the Troll II line and further to the Statoil-operated Mongstad refinery north of Bergen.
Statoil is the development operator for Gjøa, whereas Gaz de France takes over as operator in the operating phase when the field comes on stream. The licensees in the Gjøa licence are Gaz de France (30%), Petoro (30%) Statoil (20%), Shell (12%) and RWE Dea (8%).