Statoil to drill new Snøhvit field wells
Published by David Rowlands,
Editor
LNG Industry,
Norway’s Statoil has announced that the Songa Enabler drilling rig has commenced the drilling of a new injection well for CO2 gas on the Snøhvit field, which is located off the coast of Hammerfest. Following this, a production well for the replenishment of gas for Hammerfest LNG will be drilled.
To date, over 4 million tpy of CO2 from Snøhvit has been stored, which is then monitored in order to make sure that it does not mix with the main producing reservoir. The company claims that a new CO2 injection well is now required.
Once the new CO2 injector has been installed, the rig will drill the first new well at Snøhvit since it first came on stream in 2007. It is expected that the drilling process will last until late 2016.
The CO2 solution project was first developed in 2016 to construct and install a new CO2 injection well, taking the original injector’s place, which, over time, would leak CO2 into the Snøhvit field’s gas reservoir.
Geir Owren, asset owner representative for the project, said: “Hammerfest LNG needed replenishment of gas in order to maintain the high production and capacity utilisation at the plant, while ensuring sustainable CO2 storage. This project is therefore important to Statoil.”
A thorough marine campaign was carried out in the summer of 2015. This included the installation of pipelines and a template for the CO2 project, which were then tied into the existing subsea facility on the Snøhvit field. The construction and installation of the new subsea facility was carried out without injury and within budget (NOK2.5 billion).
Project leader, Sveinung Øvretveit, said: “The distance to the Barents Sea presents extra challenges with regard to mobilisation and sailing time, which requires careful planning, thorough preparations and close cooperation with the suppliers. We are pleased both with the equipment suppliers and marine operations, which resulted in successful project implementation.”
Statoil claims that the next significant step for Hammerfest LNG will be the development of the Askeladd field. This is part of the development and operation plan for the Snøhvit licence. Statoil expects that it will come on stream in 2020 – 2021, and that this development step will help to ensure the full utilisation of Hammerfest LNG’s capacity.
Edited from press release by David Rowlands
Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/09082016/statoil-to-drill-new-snohvit-field-wells-2880/
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