The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has submitted its assessment of Statoil ASA’s amended plan for development and operation (PDO) for Gullfaks field—involving Shetland-Lista Phase 1—in the Norwegian North Sea to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
Statoil during the summer submitted the newest PDO (OGJ Online, June 30, 2015), which was amended because production from the Shetland-Lista was not included in the original development plan approved in 1981. Shetland-Lista was not initially considered a reservoir, but subsequent developments have shown the presence of recoverable oil.
NPD notes that those zones, which are above the main reservoir on Gullfaks, are under natural high pressure, making it difficult to drill wells on the field. According to the new plan, 1.8 billion korner will be invested in reusing existing Gullfaks wells for production from Shetland-Lista.
NPD adds that extensive amounts of data will also be collected, perhaps providing a basis for subsequent production phases from Shetland-Lista.
