Aker BP granted approval for North Sea development

Aker BP ASA received approval from Norway's parliament, the Storting, for development and operation plans of the Yggdrasil area and Fenris field (formerly King Lear), as well as for further development of Valhall.

Yggdrasil consists of license groups Hugin, Fulla, and Munin and lies between Alvheim and Oseberg in the North Sea. Yggdrasil is “the next major development on the Norwegian shelf,” said Lars Høier, Aker BP Yggdrasil senior vice-president, noting the potential in the mature area where the operator and partners recently discovered oil in the Øst Frigg Beta-Epsilon well in production licenses (PL) 873 and 442 (OGJ Online, May 25, 2023).

Øst Frigg Beta-Epsilon reserves are preliminarily estimated at 40-90 MMboe. Overall resources in the Yggdrasil area have thus increased by about 10% to more than 700 million bbl.

At end-March, the Norwegian government submitted Proposition 97 S, including development of Yggdrasil and Valhall PWP-Fenris, to the Storting. A majority in the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment gave a positive recommendation on May 25, which was heard by the Storting in plenary session. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy issues final approval for  development plans.

The development concept is designed to accommodate future discoveries and fields. The Yggdrasil area will be remotely operated from an onshore integrated operations center and control room in Stavanger.

The coordinated Fenris-Valhall development comprises a new centrally located production and wellhead platform (PWP) connected by bridge to Valhall field center, and an unmanned installation (UI) on Fenris, 50 km away from Valhall, that will be connected to PWP through pipelines on the seabed.

Valhall PWP-Fenris is ready for construction start-up before summer. With the development project, new reserves are estimated at 230 MMboe. The project also ensures a lifetime extension beyond 2028 for Valhall and continued production of existing Valhall reserves estimated at 137 million bbl. The development will use the existing power from shore system with minimal emissions, calculated as less than 1 kg CO₂/bbl.

"We are now also establishing Valhall as a gas hub,” said Ole Johan Molvig, Aker BP Valhall senior vice-president. “Production from Fenris will substantially increase gas export from Valhall to Europe and will more than double gas processing capacity.”

Aker BP is operator at Fenris (77,8%) and Valhall (90%). Pandion Energy AS is a partner in Valhall (10%) and PGNiG Upstream Norway AS is a partner in Fenris (22.2%).