Statoil ASA has submitted an amendment to the plan for development and operations (PDO) for the Gullfaks license for the first phase of the Shetland-Lista development.
Shetland-Lista has been producing under a test production license since 2013. The amendment submitted to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy defines the longer-term development.
The first phase involves depressurization down to bubble point pressure in the reservoir and will not require any new infrastructure. It is expected to add 18 million boe, using 15 existing wells from Gullfaks platforms.
“By utilizing the existing infrastructure, we manage to recover new resources at a lower cost, thus sustaining profitable production and long-term activities on the Norwegian continental shelf,” said Ivar Aasheim, Statoil senior vice-president.
Investment costs are estimated at 900 million kroner.
Statoil said the Shetland Group and Lista Formation have different properties compared with deeper deposits of the Brent Group, where the main Gullfaks reservoirs are located. The producing interval in Shetland-Lista consists of thin limestone beds that are fractured.
“Good productivity” was established in December 2012 and has been confirmed through perforation in another three existing Gullfaks wells, which Statoil said has warranted commercial development.
Statoil said current recovery rate from the main Gullfaks field is 59%. Since start of oil production in 1986, the field has produced more than 2.56 billion bbl of oil and exported more than 70 billion cu m of gas (OGJ Online, Apr. 19, 2013).
