The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has given its approval to Total E & P Norge to carry out operations at the Skirne field and its Byggve deposit in the central North Sea beyond their originally planned operational life.
Image: Total gets PSA consent to extend life of Skirne field in North Sea. Photo:courtesy of suwatpo/Freedigitalphotos.net.
Approval from the Norwegian regulator enables Total to extend the operational life of the Skirne field and the Byggve deposit to March 2024.
The Skirne field, which is located 20km east of the Heimdal gas field and contained in water depth of 120m, has been in production since 2004.
Discovered in 1990, the offshore Norwegian gas field had its plan for development and operation (PDO) approved in 2002, which paved way for its development using two subsea templates tied back to the Heimdal facility.
PSA said that its consent for extending the life of the field is based on the assessments documented by Total that conclude that the facility can continue to be prudently operated in accordance with regulatory requirements.
The regulator, in a statement, said: “A consent for use beyond the originally planned operational life entails that, in the PSA’s opinion, the applicant has demonstrated having oversight of the technical conditions and has plans for maintenance and follow-up, such that the facilities and equipment may continue to be operated in compliance with regulatory requirements.”
Total is the operator of the Skirne field with a stake of 40% and is partnered by Petoro (30%) and LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge (30%).
In April 2015, Total E&P Norge reported a minor gas/condensate discovery east of the Skirne field during the drilling of wildcat well 25/6-5 S in production license 627. The well, which was aimed to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks, intersected a 10m gas column in the Hugin formation.
In October 2012, Total commenced production from the Atla gas condensate field, which was developed subsea with a tieback to the existing Skirne/Byggve subsea system.
The Skirne field is located in the Oseberg area in the Central and Northern North Sea where the French oil and gas giant is involved in other fields like Oseberg (14.70%), Troll (3.69%), Kvitebjørn (5.00%) and Visund (7.70%).
Total, which has been operating in Norway since 1965, has stakes across 93 licenses in the country, which includes 35 as an operator.