The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has awarded its IOR (Improved Oil Recovery) prize for 2006 to Baker Hughes and Halliburton, for their innovative development and use of advanced drilling and well solutions on the Hydro-operated field Troll Oil in the North Sea.
"It is very gratifying to see that our good suppliers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have been awarded the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's IOR prize - and it is very well deserved. Our strong collaboration with these two suppliers has formed the basis for significant value creation on the Troll field," says Ivar Brandvold, head of Drilling in Hydro's Operations sector.
The development and use of new technology for the drilling of long horizontal wells with several producing branches has formed the foundation for Troll Oil becoming one of the biggest oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The cooperation between the suppliers Baker Hughes and Halliburton, with Hydro as operator company, has been of crucial importance for the development that has taken place since the mid 1980s.
According to a study carried out by the company ECON Analysis, Troll Oil has provided a net cash flow to the state and its remaining owners of NOK 137 billion, in total. The Norwegian state's income from Troll Oil has, according to ECON, made up 11 per cent of Norway's Oil Fund.
Innovative
The IOR prize is the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's acknowledgement of production licences, companies, projects or individuals who have contributed to increased value creation on the Norwegian continental shelf, through innovative actions and plans linked to improved oil recovery.
"This year's prize is awarded to two supplier companies who can both take a significant part of the credit for the Troll field's current status as one of the largest oil fields on the Norwegian shelf," the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate states in a news item.
The technology that has been developed is now also used on other fields, thereby creating spin-off value far beyond the Troll field. The IOR prize 2006 was awarded to Baker Hughes and Halliburton by the Director General of the NPD, Gunnar Berge, at the 3rd Norwegian Technology Conference 2007 in Stavanger on Tuesday 23 January.