Aker BP, on behalf of its partners, is seeking development plan approvals from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for three oil fields.
As part of this effort, the firm submitted plans for development and operations (PDOs) of the Valhall Flank West, Ærfugl (formerly Snadd) and Skogul (formerly Storklakken) fields to the ministry.
Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said: “Investments to increase the value creation from our core areas is a vital part of our growth strategy.
“The Valhall Flank West, Ærfugl and Skogul developments will substantially strengthen Aker BP’s reserves and production from our operated field centres at Valhall, Skarv and Alvheim.”
Located around 210km offshore Sandnessjøen, Ærfugl is a gas condensate field. It is planned to be developed with an estimated investment of NOK8.5bn ($1bn).
The field, which is estimated to hold approximately 275 million barrels of oil equivalents, is jointly owned by Aker BP (operator) with 23.835% stake, Statoil Petroleum 36.165% interest, DEA Norge with 28.0825% stake and PGNiG Upstream Norway with 11.9175% interest.
The Valhall Frank West field, which is located in the southern part of the Norwegian sector in the North Sea, will be developed with an investment of NOK5.5bn ($654.8m).
Production from the field, which is owned by Aker BP with 35.95% stake and Hess Norge with 64.05% interest, is scheduled to commence in fourth quarter 2019.
The Skogul field is planned to be developed with an investment of NOK1.5bn ($178.5m) with production scheduled for first quarter 2020. It is estimated to have recoverable reserves of around 10 million barrels of oil equivalents.
Aker BP operates the Skogul field with 65% stake while PGNiG Upstream Norway owns the remaining 35% interest.
In addition to creating 14,000 jobs, the three fields are expected to generate revenues of NOK100 ($12bn), based on an oil price of $60 per barrel.
Image: Norway Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Søviknes and Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik. Photo: courtesy of Aker BP ASA.