The Snefrid Nord gas field in the Norwegian Sea has been developed with an investment of £110m as a tie back to the Aasta Hansteen gas field
Image: Aker Solutions delivered the suction anchor and template for the Snefrid Nord gas field. Photo: courtesy of Rolf Morten Nes/Equinor ASA.
Equinor and its partners have commenced production from the Snefrid Nord gas field near the producing Aasta Hansteen field on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
The Snefrid Nord field has been developed as a tied back to the Aasta Hansteen gas field with an investment of around NOK1.2bn (£110m). Its recoverable resources are estimated at 4.4 billion standard cubic metres of gas and some condensate.
It is the first discovery to be tied back to the Aasta Hansteen field, which has been producing since December 2018.
Equinor is the operator of the Aasta Hansteen gas field, which was developed with an investment of NOK 37.5bn (£3.4bn).
According to the Norwegian oil and gas giant, Snefrid Nord gas field located in the Norwegian Sea was originally scheduled to be brought on stream at the end of 2019. The offshore gas field was discovered in 2015 and sanctioned by the partners in July 2017.
Equinor said that Snefrid Nord will extend plateau production from Aasta Hansteen by nearly a year. On plateau, Snefrid Nord is expected to yield four million cubic metres of gas per day for a planned production period of five to six years.
The Aasta Hansteen field along with the Polarled pipeline has opened a new region in the Norwegian Sea for gas export to Europe, said the Norwegian oil and gas major.
The concept of the Snefrid Nord gas project includes a well in a subsea template which is tied back to the Aasta Hansteen field through a pipeline and an umbilical. The subsea template, which is installed at a water depth of 1,309m, was delivered by Aker Solutions along with the suction anchor.
The production well at Snefrid Nord was drilled by the Transocean Spitsbergen rig. On the other hand, Subsea 7 carried out the installation of the template, while pipeline end termination (PLET) was delivered by Momek.
Equinor project development senior vice president Geir Tungesvik said: “To a large extent the development has been performed in synergy with Aasta Hansteen. As the two projects have used several of the same suppliers, we have been able to combine campaigns and follow-up teams in Equinor and reuse technical solutions.”
Stakeholders in the Snefrid Nord gas field
Equinor Energy is the operator of the Snefrid Nord gas field with a 51% stake. The company’s partners in the Norwegian Sea gas field are Wintershall Dea (24%), OMV (Norge), which holds a 15% stake, and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (10%).