Statoil and partners have approved development of the Smorbukk South Extension in the Asgard unit in the central Norwegian Sea.
The group will install a conventional subsea template connected to the Asgard A floating production, storage, and offloading vessel to develop crude oil, natural gas, and condensate reserves estimated at 16.5 million boe. Gas will be reinjected for pressure maintenance.
The group plans to drill a multilateral well with two boreholes for oil production and one for gas injection. The template will have slots for future wells.
Water depth in the Asgard area is 240-300 m. Smorbukk South pay is in the Jurassic Garn, Ile, and Tilje sandstone formations.
Drilling is to begin in early 2015, production in September 2015. The production life expected to be 12 years.
Asgard comprises Smorbukk, Smorbukk South, and Midgard fields. In addition to the Asgard A FPSO, installations include the Asgard B semisubmersible platform, which handles gas and condensate processing, and the Asgard C storage and offloading vessel for condensate. Asgard B also handles production from Mikkel, Morvin, and Yttergryta fields.
Statoil operates the Asgard unit with a 34.57% interest. Other interests are Petoro AS 36.69%, Eni Norge AS 14.82%, Total E&P Norge AS 7.68%, and ExxonMobil Corp. 7.24%.