The Hasselmus gas field development project involves the subsea development and a tieback to the existing Draugen production platform offshore Norway. The gas field is expected to start production in the fourth quarter of 2023.

OKEA is the operator and holds a 44.56% interest in the Hasselmus field development. The other development partners are Petoro (47.88%) and  Neptune Energy Norge (7.56%).

The final investment decision (FID) on the project was reached in June 2021. The Hasselmus field development is estimated to be approximately £202.5m (NOK 2.4bn).

The offshore field is anticipated to have a plateau gas production rate of more than 4,400 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boepd). The project is estimated to recover approximately 10.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe).

OKEA acquired a 44.56% interest in production licence 093  and assumed operatorship of the Draugen field from Norske Shell in November 2018. Neptune Energy picked up a 7.56% interest through the acquisition of VNG Norge in September 2018.

Location, discovery, and reservoir details

The Hasselmus field is located in blocks 6407/8 and 6407/9H within PL 093 in the south Norwegian Sea, Norway. The water depth in the area is approximately 250m.

The offshore gas field was discovered through the drilling of the Hasselmus wildcat well, 6407/9-9 by Norske Shell in 1999. The well encountered a 16m gas column and a 6.8m oil column.

The field’s reservoir comprises the Early Jurassic sandstones of the Ror and the Ile Formations.

Hasselmus field development plan

The Hasselmus field development involves the drilling of a single subsea well, installation of the associated subsea infrastructure, and a tieback to the Draugen platform.

The well stream will be processed at Draugen platform which is located approximately 7km southeast of the Hasselmus gas discovery.

Draugen platform

The topside modules of the Draugen platform sit on a single-shaft concrete gravity base structure (GBS) based on the Condeep design. The water depth in the area is approximately 251.3m and the height of the GBS is approximately 285.1m. The topsides on the platform include well stream processing facilities, utilities, as well as accommodation facilities.

The platform consists of oil storage cells located at the base of the GBS. The oil is transported from the storage cells via pipelines to a floating loading-buoy which loads oil to the shuttle tankers for onshore export.

The Hasselmus field development will be the first tieback to the Draugen platform. Both the Draugen field and the Hasselmus gas discovery are located in PL 093 in the south Norwegian Sea.

Discovered in 1984, the Draugen oil field commenced operations in 1993. The Draugen field is situated approximately 140km northwest of Kristiansund, Norway. Its production stood at 17,500boepd in 2020.

Contracts awarded

COSL Drilling Europe was awarded a four-year frame contract for providing drilling services on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for OKEA in May 2021.

As part of this contract, COSL Drilling Europe is expected to drill the planned single development well for the Hasselmus project.

The drilling contractor will execute the contract by deploying semi-submersible drilling rigs. The contract also includes four one-year extension options.