The partners in the Åsgard licence have decided to invest just under NOK 1.4 billion to further develop the field and implement the Åsgard B low-pressure project.
The Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea started producing in 1999 and the transition to low-pressure production is important to secure improved recovery from the field.
Equinor’s senior vice president for projects, Geir Tungesvik, said the company is pleased that the Åsgard owners have given the project a go-ahead.
“The project will increase production from the current Smørbukk wells and contribute to achieve planned production from the field,” Mr Tungesvik said.
Randi Hugdahl, vice president for Åsgard operations, said they can still produce between 400-500 million barrels of oil equivalent from the field, which means value creation in the order of NOK 150 – 200 billion.
“The current recovery rate for the field is almost 50 per cent, but our ambition is to extract 60 per cent of the hydrocarbons in the reservoirs before the field will have to be shut down,” he shared.
The selected concept is a modification of the platform to reduce inlet pressure by replacing the reinjection compressors and rebuilding parts of the processing facility.
Contract awarded to Aker Solutions
A front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract was awarded to Aker Solutions in December 2019 for modification work on Åsgard B in connection with the low-pressure project. The contract has now been expanded into an engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract.
The EPCI contract is valued at around NOK 800 million and will represent about 415 work-years and distributed over four years for the supplier.
Project management and engineering will involve 240 work-years and be conducted at Aker Solutions’ office in Trondheim, while prefabrication will involve 45 work-years and take place at the yard in Egersund. The work will start immediately and is planned to continue through 2024.
More than 20 years have passed since the Åsgard B gas processing platform came on stream. Gas from Åsgard is piped through Åsgard Transport to Kårstø, north of Stavanger. Overall, the installations at Åsgard have delivered more than 2.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with a gross value of more than NOK 1,000 billion.
Planned start-up of low-pressure production is in 2023.
The partners in the Åsgard licence are: Equinor (operator) 34.57 per cent, Petoro AS 35.69 per cent, Vår Energi AS 22.06 per cent, Total E&P Norge AS 7.68 per cent.
