Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Dec. 11 -- After a 2-month delay, StatoilHydro AS produced first gas from the Njord field in the Norwegian Sea, providing a new supply for Europe along with oil production.
The field will produce 6 million cu m/d of gas and required an investment of 1.2 billion kroner to ensure that Njord will supply gas up to 2020.
A new 40 km pipeline ties Njord gas into the Asgard Transport line, which in turn connects with the Karsto processing complex, north of Stavanger, and the trunklines to continental Europe.
Some 20,000 b/d of oil is being produced through 11 wells from Njord while four injection wells sent the gas back into the reservoir as pressure support under the initial phase. Several new production wells help continue production by phasing in additional resources near the existing infrastructure under the second phase.
"The new process facility, which has been in operation since Oct. 1, is functioning very well. Regularity was as high as 99.7% for the first month," StatoilHydro said.
It attributed the gas production delay to a faulty weld. The repair on board the Far Saga vessel took "a long time due to bad weather," officials said.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].