Fenja Contracts on Radar Screen
Thursday 15 June 2017
VNG is targeting investments of Nkr11.5 billion ($1.36 billion) to develop its Pil & Bue discoveries - now renamed Fenja - in the Norwegian Sea, with production drilling and subsea facilities among contracts up for grabs.
The German operator is looking at a phased development of the two finds as a subsea tieback to Statoil’s Njord A platform that is currently undergoing upgrade work at the Kvaerner Stord yard in Norway, according to an impact assessment study issued for consultation.
The proposed expenditure includes modifications to the host facility, construction and installation of subsea facilities and pipelines, production drilling and engineering work, promising a fresh bevy of contracts for work-starved contractors in a lacklustre market.
VNG intends to drill three production wells in 2020 and three more in 2022 to exploit around 95 million barrels of crude and 330 million cubic metres of gas at Pil, with two possible additional wells to be drilled at Bue in 2024 to bring the latter find online at a later date.
The company is therefore in the market for a semi-submersible rig that is either anchor-moored or has dynamic positioning, or both, with an estimated duration for the drilling work of 18 months.
The Pil discovery will initially be developed using two subsea templates for three production wells, two water-injectors and one gas-injector, with Bue seen as providing potential upside.
Bue would be phased in from 2024 using available slots in one of the templates, contingent on successful production drilling at Pil.
Likely contenders for the subsea infrastructure, plus installation of umbilicals, risers and flowlines, are prime suspect TechnipFMC, touting its integrated contract model, and a possible collaboration between Aker Solutions and Subsea 7.
Installation work for subsea equipment and pipelines is due to be carried out in the 2019-2020 timeframe, with start-up targeted for the first quarter of 2021, according to a timetable outlined in the study.
Local contractor Kvaerner is probably in pole position for the topsides modifications on Njord A given it is already carrying out the upgrade of the platform, which is due to be towed back to the Njord field in 2020 ready for tie-in of Fenja as well as the Hyme and Bauge satellite fields.
The Stord yard is installing two new pontoons and extending the pillars of the platform under upgrade work designed to extend its producing lifetime to 2040.
Further modifications required to tie in Fenja will entail 332 tonnes of equipment including riser connections, new control and chemical cables, and processing facilities.
While Njord is expected to have an economic lifetime to 2032, the tie-in of additional fields is set to keep the platform in operation until 2040.
Electrification of the platform with power from shore - a key official requirement for new fields off Norway - has been ruled out after consideration of four options by Statoil under the so-called Njord Future project, with the facility to be powered by its two existing gas turbines onboard.
A partial electrification was estimated to have cost Nkr1.9 billion and was technically possible but would have stalled start-up of Fenja, while full electrification would have threatened implementation of Njord Future.
Oil production from Fenja will be processed on Njord A before being transferred to the Njord B floating storage and offloading vessel for onward export via shuttle tankers.
Gas will be exported at a later date via Njord’s connection to the Aasgard Transport System that will carry it to the Kaarsto processing plant for onward export to Europe.
Production of crude is expected to peak at around 42,100 barrels per day in 2023, while maximum gas output is seen between 2025 and 2036 at an average daily rate of 2700 cubic metres.
Pil & Bue are estimated to hold between 90 million and 200 million barrels of oil equivalent, with another prospect, Boomerang, proving dry after drilling.