Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil and its partners have started construction on the Johan Sverdrup utility and living quarters platform on the island of Stord, north of Stavanger, Norway.

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The Johan Sverdrup field is estimated to have initial production capacity of 380,000 barrels of oil each day and is expected to reach peak production of up to 650,000 barrels of oil a day upon fully commissioning.

Statoil Johan Sverdrup project director Kjetel Digre said: "Johan Sverdrup is the biggest industrial project in modern times in Norway, and will create considerable value for society for generations to come.

"We are kicking off the construction of the utility and living quarters platform, which is the second of four platform currently under construction in the first project phase."

In June 2015, a joint venture between Kværner and KBR was selected by Statoil for engineering and construction of the topside for the utility and living quarters platform for the field.

Kværner is responsible for manufacturing parts of the topside steel frame as well as assembling complete parts for the utility and living quarters platform prior. The platform is planned to be installed on the field in 2019.

Apply Leirvik, the sub-supplier of Kværner, will construct the accommodation module for the living quarters platform.

Engineering is planned to be carried out at KBR’s office in Leatherhead, UK, and at Apply Leirvik on Stord. Fabrication work is currently underway at two of the yards in Poland and at Apply Leirvik.

Designed to accommodate 560 people, the utility and living quarters platform will feature the field’s control and emergency centre, and some utility systems covering the whole field centre.

Statoil operates the Johan Sverdrup field with 40.02% stake, while other partners include Lundin Norway, Maersk Oil, Petoro and Det norske oljeselskap have 22.6%, 8.44%, 17.36% and 11.57%, respectively.

Entire project is expected to cost NOK190bn ($22bn) and is planned to be implemented in two phases.

First phase of the project is estimated to require $12.6bn and commence production in later half of 2019. Second phase of development is expected to start in 2022.

Separately, Statoil has exercised options for previously awarded drilling service contracts for 17 fixed installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.


Image: The Johan Sverdrup field in Norway is estimated to have peak production capacity of 650,000 barrels of oil per day. Photo: courtesy of Statoil.