Spirit granted life extension for Vale field facilities

Spirit Energy Norway AS has been granted consent by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) to use facilities on Vale field in the central Norwegian North Sea beyond their original lifespan.

To recover the remaining reserves on the field, Spirit Energy applied for consent to extend the life of the field, and consent was granted for a life extension to June 11, 2023. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has said Vale can potentially produce as long as the Heimdal facility is available (OGJ Online, Mar. 18, 2021; Apr. 13, 2021). 

Vale lies in PL 036, 16 km north of Heimdal field in 115 m of water. It produces gas and condensate from Middle Jurassic sandstone in the Brent Group. The reservoir lies at a depth of 3,700 m and has low permeability. The field is developed with a subsea template including one horizontal production well with a single sidetrack, tied-back to Equinor-operated Heimdal gas center platform by a 16.5-km long pipeline. Production began in 2002.

The well stream from Vale is routed to Heimdal for processing and export. Gas is transported via Vesterled to St Fergus in the UK. Condensate is transported by pipeline to Brae field in the UK sector and further to Cruden Bay.

Spirit is operator of the field with 50% interest. Partners are Lotus Exploration and Production Norge AS (25.76%) and PGNiG Norway AS (24.24%).