By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Mar. 26�The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum Friday approved Norsk Hydro AS's plans for development and operation of Fram West and Vale fields in the North Sea.
Fram West will be developed at a cost of some 4 billion kroner ($440 million) via subsea templates, with four wells tied back to Hydro's nearby Troll C platform for processing. Reserves are 100 million bbl of oil and 8 billion cu m of gas. First flow from Fram West is scheduled for October 2003, with production ramping up to a plateau rate "surpassing 60,000 b/d," according to Hydro Exploration & Production's Lars Christian Alsvik. "With the Fram Vest development, we can utilize existing infrastructure in the Troll area and sharpen profitability by exploiting comparatively small reserves," said Alsvik.
The 880 million kroner ($100 million) Vale gas/condensate field will be developed as a subsea satellite operation tied back to the Heimdal riser platform. Reserves are 2.5 billion cu m of gas and 21 million bbl of condensate.
Modifications to the Heimdal unit will be 260 million kroner ($29 million) of the cost of the field development, which includes drilling, subsea templates, and pipelines.
First flow from Vale is set for June 2002, but Hydro said it is "considering an earlier start-up."
Minister of Petroleum Olav Akselsen said in addition to Fram West and Vale, his office has approved projects including Grane, Ringhorne, Tambar, Heidrun North, and Kvitebjørn over the last year, promoting "a substantial increase in activity" for offshore sector service and supply companies throughout Norway.
