Statoil revives Snohvit development plan

Norway's Den norske stats oljeselskap AS (Statoil) has dusted off plans to develop the largest gas discovery made to date in the Barents Sea off northern Norway. The Snohvit discovery was made in 1984, in middle and lower Jurassic formations on Blocks 7120/6, 7121/4, and 7121/5, where the water depth is 300-340 m. Statoil's most recent estimate pegs Snohvit gas reserves at 5.3 tcf. Wood Mackenzie Consultants Ltd., Edinburgh, estimates the find also has combined oil and condensate

Oct. 21, 1996

2 min read

Norway's Den norske stats oljeselskap AS (Statoil) has dusted off plans to develop the largest gas discovery made to date in the Barents Sea off northern Norway.

The Snohvit discovery was made in 1984, in middle and lower Jurassic formations on Blocks 7120/6, 7121/4, and 7121/5, where the water depth is 300-340 m.

Statoil's most recent estimate pegs Snohvit gas reserves at 5.3 tcf. Wood Mackenzie Consultants Ltd., Edinburgh, estimates the find also has combined oil and condensate reserves of 115 million bbl.

Because Snohvit lies so far from existing infrastructure and so far from markets, development is expected to be feasible only through export of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

At one time Statoil was negotiating with Italian state-owned electricity utility ENEL to supply LNG to power plants there, but the discussions came to nothing.

New study team

Now Statoil has formed a team to study development prospects for Snohvit and other gas finds in the Barents Sea area.

The team is expected to spend 18-24 months in producing a potential development plan for Snohvit.

Snorre Jensen, Snohvit project manager, said, "Finding a market for the gas is crucial to Snohvit development. We know this will be a demanding job, but we see opportunities in the Far East and the U.S. East Coast. The primary focus is on markets that do not compete with piped Norwegian gas."

Statoil anticipates development of Snohvit will take 4-5 years and cost 15 billion kroner ($2.3 billion).

Development approach

The company envisages use of multilateral wells, with horizontal sections to deplete Snohvit's, thin oil layer.

The most likely development plan is thought to be subsea wellheads, from which the wellstream will be gathered and sent through a multiphase pipeline to shore for processing and liquefaction.

Because of Norway's tight emissions laws, Statoil plans to remove carbon dioxide from produced gas and reinject it. This technology is already in use in West Sleipner field, due on stream in October.

Snohvit is the largest of a number of Barents Sea gas finds made by Norwegian operators.

Little oil has been found so far, but government has been making bullish estimates of the area's potential ahead of a special licensing round later this year (OGJ, July 29, p. 40).