Equinor and its partners will consider new drilling targets and wells linked to Asgard A in the Norwegian Sea, as well as additional measures to improve recovery following approval from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) to extend the technical lifetime for the facility until 2027—about 12 years longer than the original plan.
The facility plays an important role in recovering as much remaining liquid reserves as possible from Smorbukk and Smorbukk Sor, as most of the gas-injection wells in the fields are tied in to Asgard A and will rely on the gas injection from Asgard A through the 2020s, NPD said.
New drilling targets and wells linked to Asgard A will be considered in both the shorter and longer term. An improved recovery project involving “low wellhead pressure” has an expected start-up date in 2022.
Recovery of Trestakk as well as the Blabjorn discovery depends on an extended life of Asgard A (OGJ Online, Apr. 5, 2017). The facility’s technical lifetime was originally based on 20 years of operation and expires this year.
Partners for Asgard are Petoro AS 35.69%, operator Equinor 34.57%, Var Energi AS 14.82%, Total E&P Norge AS 7.68%, and ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Norway 7.24%.