By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Feb. 7�Statoil AS has started up a gas export line expected to move 7.6 billion cu m/year from two of the northernmost producing fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to continental Europe.
Statoil said Wednesday that first flow was Monday for the U-shaped Norne and Heidrun gas export trunkline system. It extends from the Norne floating production vessel on blocks 6608/10 and 6608/11 in the Norwegian Sea down to the Åsgard transport line and back to the Heidrun platform on blocks 6507/7and 6507/8.
The pipeline was originally to have come online last October, but start up was delayed first by the late arrival of Saipem's Maxita crane vessel, and then due to the discovery of leakage in one of the pipeline flanges.
Gas from the two Statoil-operated developments is being sent via the 42-in., 707-km Åsgard trunkline, which began operation last October, to the Kåstø treatment facility, and on through the Europe II export line to the Continent. Statoil said the distance was more than 1,400 km.
Under gas delivery deals set up as part of Troll agreements, Statoil will be contracted to deliver around 1 billion cu m/year from Norne and 750 million cu m/year from Heidrun.
Norne, which had recoverable reserves of 80.4 million bbl of oil and 15 billion cu m of gas when it came on stream in late 1997, is producing 175,000 b/d of oil and 3.75 million cu m of gas. Heidrun began production in October 1995 with recoverable reserves of 1.1 billion bbl of oil and 53 billion cu m of gas and is producing 250,000 b/d of oil and 6 million cu m/day of gas.
Maintaining oil production from the two fields depends on selling the associated gas, said Statoil. Sales volumes are in line with requirements for gas allocation over the "next few years."
At Norne, Statoil owns 24%, Norsk Hydro AS 8.1%, Enterprise Oil Norge Ltd. 6%, Norsk Agip AS 6.9%; and the state's direct financial interest (SDFI) 55%. At Heidrun, Statoil has 12.4%, Conoco Inc. 18.3%, Fortum Oil & Gas AS 5.1%, and the SDFI 64.2%.
