Repsol SA expects to recover 65 million bbl of oil stranded at currently shut-in Yme field in the Norwegian North Sea. The operator on Dec. 19 submitted a new plan for development and operation (PDO) for the field that will use existing facilities installed during the last development phase in 2007. The operator has leased the Maersk Inspirer jack up, which will be modified for Yme operations, acting as a drilling and production facility.
The PDO calls for reusing nine existing wells with a plan to drill six more. Startup is planned for 2020, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
The field will produce from horizontal wells with pressure support from water injection and water-alternating-gas injection. All produced water and natural gas will be reinjected into the reservoir. Yme’s existing facilities include a caisson, a subsea oil storage tank, pipelines, and a connection between the Gamma and Beta platforms. Beta includes a manifold and subsea template with three slots, subsea loading system for oil from the storage tanks, and both platforms have existing wells.
Yme was in production from 1996 to 2001, after which the field was shut down and the facilities removed due to decreasing profitability of the field. A new PDO for Yme was approved in 2007 (OGJ Online, May 14, 2007).
Yme was originally developed with a jack up production facility and a storage vessel for one of the structures, Gamma. The other structure, Beta, was developed with subsea wells.
Due to structural faults, the Beta facility could not be used and it was removed in 2016 without initiating production on the field (OGJ Online, Aug. 24, 2016).
Repsol became operator after its 2015 acquisition of Talisman Energy Inc. Current partners include Repsol Norge AS, 55% working interest; Lotos Exploration & Production Norge AS, 20%; Kufpec Norway AS, 10%; and OKEA AS, 15%.
Contact Tayvis Dunnahoe at [email protected].