STORTING CLEARS HEIDRUN FIELD DEVELOPMENT

A group led by Norske Conoco AS is closing in on final approvals to develop giant Heidrun oil and gas field in the Haltenbanken region of the Norwegian Sea. The group last week won approval of Norway's Storting (parliament) for its development plan for the field 109 miles off the coast of mid-Norway. Storting is expected later this year to consider the disposition method for Heidrun gas.

May 20, 1991

2 min read

A group led by Norske Conoco AS is closing in on final approvals to develop giant Heidrun oil and gas field in the Haltenbanken region of the Norwegian Sea.

The group last week won approval of Norway's Storting (parliament) for its development plan for the field 109 miles off the coast of mid-Norway. Storting is expected later this year to consider the disposition method for Heidrun gas.

Conoco and Den norske stats oljeselskap AS, one of its partners, have applied for a permit to lay a pipeline to move the gas from the platform to Tjeldbergodden, Norway. A plant would be built there to use the gas as feedstock to produce 830,000 tons/year of methanol.

The field development project, which calls for use of a concrete tension leg platform, is the largest undertaken by Conoco Inc. or its affiliates. Heidrun, with reserves of 750 million bbl of oil and 46 bcf of natural gas, is expected to produce 200,000 b/d of oil (OGJ, Feb. 25, p. 26).

Preengineering is under way for the concrete substructure, deck modules, and drilling facilities. Contractors are competing for one detail engineering contract in each of the three areas.

Conoco also is initiating contracts related to the 58 slot steel subsea template.

Major construction work is expected to begin in fourth quarter 1992, with tow-out of the completed platform and tieback of nine predrilled production wells scheduled for summer 1995. Oil flow is to begin in third quarter 1995.