Statoil Gives Go-Ahead to Smorbukk South Extension Project

Statoil reported Wednesday that, along with its partners, it has decided to go ahead with the Smørbukk South Extension project on the Åsgard development, offshore Norway.

The extension holds estimated recoverable reserves of 16.5 million barrels of oil equivalent and will be developed with a new subsea template that will be connected to existing infrastructure in the area.

Recovered gas will be re-injected into the reservoir in order to maintain pressure as oil is drained out of it. The field will be connected to the Åsgard A FPSO installation.

Astrid Helga Jørgenvåg, Statoil's asset owner for Åsgard, commented in a company statement:

"We've matured a profitable project out of a discovery from 1985. Experience from Åsgard operations, existing infrastructure and a bit of patience have contributed to an investment decision for this project.

"In addition we will consider the use of a new well technology that will increase the recovery from this type of reservoir. Smørbukk South Extension is a strategically important project that emphasizes our ambitions to increase recovery from mature areas."

The extension project will use standard equipment, and Statoil has already made investments to minimize the time from project sanction to production start-up, the firm said.

Statoil will now award several contracts for the development, it added.

Drilling operations are planned to begin in early 2015, with production start-up planned for September 2015. Total investments for the project are estimated to be around $595 million.

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