Statoil celebrates 5 billion barrels from Statfjord
STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil, Centrica and Exxon Mobil are celebrating the 5 Bboe delivered by Statfjord since first oil in 1979. Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tord Lien, took part in Monday's celebrations.
“The spin-offs created by Statfjord can hardly be exaggerated. Generating more than NOK 1,500 billion in revenues and 200,000 direct and indirect man-years since the 1970s, the field has been of great importance to Norwegian society,” said Arne Sigve Nylund, executive V.P., Development and Production Norway, Statoil, who took part in the celebration on Statfjord A.
Statfjord has already been on stream for more than a generation; however, Statoil and its partners have extended its life until 2025. Originally, the partnership hoped to recover 40% of the oil at Statfjord. The result so far is a record-high 67%.
“On this historic day, we take a retrospective view. This, however, is also a story about the future, describing how knowledge, skills and experience acquired through many years across the oil industry are harnessed to create ever more values and new activity. Statfjord was supposed to be shut down more than ten years ago. Instead, technology development, smart solutions and clever decisions have extended the productive life and increased the level of activity. This is characteristic of Norwegian oil history and something we will build on in Statfjord’s next chapter and on the NCS for many decades to come,” Nylund added.
Thanks to active subsurface work, efficient drilling and well operations, and well operated installations, Statfjord successfully increased production for the fourth consecutive year this year. To date, 451 wells have been drilled on the field, and, more than 40 years after the field was discovered, profitable new wells are still being drilled.
Safe and efficient operations are essential to optimal resource recovery. At Statfjord, drilling costs have been reduced by 50%.
Statfjord is still producing oil. However, the most important decision after the turn of the millennium was made in 2005. Through the Statfjord Late Life project, the field was converted from an oil field to a gas field by reducing the reservoir pressure.
NOK 23 billion was invested, and production was maintained during the conversion process. The work included the drilling of 70 new wells and extensive modifications to the platforms.
The Statfjord partners are Statoil Petroleum (44.34%, operator), Exxon Mobil Exploration and Production Norway (21.37%), Centrica Resources (Norge) (19.76%) and Centrica Resources Limited (14.53%).
