The project for the installation of a new subsea template in the Norne field includes the retrofitting of an electric subsea control module on an existing subsea template. The control module will operate eight electric gate valves and one electric pig (Fig. 1).
The Norne field is in Norwegian Sea Blocks 6508/1 and 6608/10, about 125 miles off Norway in about 1,250 ft of water. Statoil ASA is the field operator.
Expansion projects
FMC Technologies Inc. received the contract for supplying the new subsea Template K for Norne. The $28-million contract includes two subsea trees, a manifold, a four-slot template, and two subsea control modules, along with the retrofitting of an electric subsea control module on an existing template. FMC says that this is first time a production manifold has been converted to all-electric operations.
In 2001-02, FMC installed its first all-electric subsea production system in Statoil’s Statfjord field (Fig. 2). That system has four all-electric chokes on each of four subsea well templates.
Statoil expects to recover 10 million bbl of additional oil from the $124-million Norne expansion project that involves the installation of Template K and the drilling and completion of two wells. It plans to install the template in September 2005 and produce first oil in the second half of 2006, after completing the two new wells.
Statoil also has other ongoing development projects in the Norne area. Its $560-million Urd development (formerly the Svale and Stær fields) consists of three subsea templates tied back to the Norne floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel (Fig. 3). Statoil expects the project to start producing in the latter half of 2005 at rates up to 70,000 bo/d.
Other discoveries in the Norne area include Alve, Falk, and Linerle.
Norne
Norne production began in November 1997. The field currently includes the FPSO tied back to five wellhead templates: three for production, and two for water injection. Flexible risers carry the flow from the wells to the turret-moored FPSO.
Norne currently produces from 12 wells and also has 7 water-injection wells. The gas-injection well on Template C is plugged and inactive. Current production is 100,000 bo/d, 117 MMscfd of gas, and 3,500 b/d of NGL.
From the FPSO, oil is transferred to shuttle tankers, while the gas goes to the Aasgard transport pipeline. Statoil started exported gas from Norne in February 2001.
The field has recovered 400 million bbl of oil, 136 bcf of gas, and 3 million bbl of NGL. Estimated remaining reserves are 163 million bbl of oil, 360 bcf of gas, and 18 million bbl of NGL.
Interest owners in the Norne Unit are Petoro AS, 54%; Statoil ASA, 25%; Norsk Hydro Produksjon AS, 8.1%; Eni Norge AS, 6.9; and Enterprise Oil Norge AS, 6%. ✦