Major development beckons on Norwegian Shelf

A development project with investments of around $ 800 mm is looming on the Norwegian Shelf as Statoil's latest well in the Tyrihans South prospect has brought the proven recoverable oil and gas reserves in the general Tyrihans area up to 350 mm boe.

Statoil CEO Olav Fjell, presenting the third quarter results in Oslo, said the 6406/3-6 Tyrihans South appraisal in the Haltenbanken area had added some 100 mm boe to existing reserves. This could be the reserve base Statoil needs to realise its ambition to develop the Tyrihans area as a subsea field, tied back to its Asgard facilities.
This could involve drilling and completing between 12-14 subsea wells, with a likely production start in 2007. Following the adjustment of the reserve basis, the main obstacle for Statoil's Tyrihans plans, is the Asgard Transport System, where there is competition for scarce gas export capacity with BP's Skarv gas field, as one of the competitors.

The Tyrihans South appraisal was drilled in production licence (PL) 091, with the semisub Stena Don operating in a water depth of 273 mm (895 ft), but the structure also straddles PL 073.
Partners in both licences are sharing the costs of the rig, and shareholders in PL 073 are: Statoil (operator) 54.67 %, TotalFinaElf 33.33 % and Norsk Hydro 12.00 %. In PL 091, the shareholders are: Statoil (operator) 55 %, ExxonMobil 33 % and Norsk Hydro 12 %.