Snorre Partners Close in on Development Decision
Friday 11 November 2016
Partners in the Statoil-operated Snorre field in the Norwegian North Sea are set to decide as soon as next month whether to proceed to the next stage of development planning on a $3 billion to $3.3 billion expansion programme.
The licensees are set to to make a Decision Gate 2 (DG2) choice within a matter of weeks, said Grethe Moen, chief executive of Norwegian state-owned project partner Petoro.
Moen added that this would see the project move into a development phase focused on front-end engineering and design of a significant subsea tie-back to the Snorre A platform.
“I’ve been concerned about the progress on Snorre for a long time, so I am very pleased that it is finally on track,” she said, adding that she is confident the project will move into its next phase in December.
For more than a decade, the Snorre partners have been unable to agree on how to develop an additional 200 million to 300 million barrels of oil under a project that Statoil formerly referred to as Snorre 2040.
Petoro has expressed its concerns several times before that as production depletes the field with every passing year, reservoir pressure is falling and fewer barrels will still be recoverable to justify a large new investment project.
In February, the partners agreed to study a subsea development as a possible concept for Snorre expansion.
A Statoil spokesman stated that the partners are now working on the subsea concepts and are aiming to take a decision to continue this year. “The FEED contract can be awarded shortly after an eventual decision to continue,” the spokesman said.
US-based Wood Group Kenny is the front-runner for the FEED contract, having carried out pre-FEED studies.
The Statoil spokesman confirmed the contractor has conducted early engineering work on the subsea field layout, design of pipelines, system engineering and design of subsea pipeline structures.
“Wood Group has an option (for the FEED) within the same areas and also an option for fabrication of the riser base,” he confirmed.
A plan for development and operation for Snorre expansion is expected to be submitted at the end of 2017, with production start-up planned for the fourth quarter of 2022.