Production from the Snorre Expansion Project in the North Sea began Dec. 12. The increased oil recovery project—originally scheduled to come on stream first-quarter 2021—is expected to add almost 200 million bbl of recoverable oil reserves and help extend the productive life of the field through 2040, operator Equinor said in a Dec. 14 release.
In November, Equinor received consent from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to start up Snorre expansion in Blocks 34/4 (PL 057) and 34/7 (PL 089) of the Tampen area, about 200 km west of Florø in the Norwegian North Sea (OGJ Online, Nov. 16, 2020).
The expansion consists of 24 new wells (13 production wells, 11 water-alternating gas injectors) in six subsea templates and will be tied into Snorre A floating tension-leg platform (OGJ Online, Oct. 10, 2018). Bundles connecting the new wells to the platform have been installed, in addition to new risers. The project also includes a new module and modifications on Snorre A.
After 3 years of modifications on a platform on stream, final preparations to receive oil from the new wells were performed during a major turnaround this fall.
Equinor is operator at Snorre (33.3%) with partners Petoro AS (30%), Var Energi AS (18.5%), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (9.6%), and Wintershall Dea Norge AS (8.6%).