Energy

At the next MTS Houston lunch on January 25, Edwin Verdonk Vice President with Shell will present a summary of Shell’s Deepwater Development Strategy.

Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE: SGY) has announced drilling success at the deep water Mt. Providence development well at Mississippi Canyon Block 28. Stone generated the prospect and owns a 100% working interest in the well.

Ardyne, provider of innovative plug and abandonment and slot recovery technology, has saved more than a day of rig time on a planned 3 1/2 - day operation and improved efficiencies by 35% for UK-based operator Fairfield, with the help of its unique Casing Recovery Toolbox.

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) announces positive results from its Ranger-1 exploration well, marking ExxonMobil’s sixth oil discovery offshore Guyana since 2015.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has announced the next step for responsibly developing the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024, which proposes to make over 90 percent of the total OCS acreage and more than 98 percent of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in federal offshore areas available to consider for future exploration and development.

The technology group Wärtsilä has agreed to retrofit the world’s first energy storage solution on board a large offshore supply vessel. The North Sea Giant, one of the world’s largest and most advanced subsea construction vessels, will be fitted with an energy storage system that reduces the vessel’s energy consumption, operating costs and exhaust emissions.

BP has confirmed that production has started from the super-giant Zohr gas field, offshore Egypt. The field is operated by Eni, through its joint venture with The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), and is the largest natural gas discovery yet to be made in the Mediterranean Sea.

Statoil has, on behalf of the Snorre Unit partners, submitted the plan for development and operation (PDO) of the Snorre Expansion Project to the authorities. At the same time, contracts worth up to NOK 9 billion will be awarded.

The investment will increase recovery from the Snorre field by close to 200 million barrels.
“Snorre Expansion has been a marginal project, and Statoil has worked closely with partners and suppliers to realise it. We have finally arrived at a good concept utilising existing infrastructure and reducing costs,” says Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling.

“In 2017, we have benefitted from a comprehensive improvement effort by Statoil and suppliers, and we have succeeded in realising development plans for Njord, Bauge, Johan Castberg and now Snorre Expansion, leading to investments of NOK 90 billion on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and important activity for the industry,” says Øvrum.

“During the past years, Norwegian suppliers have demonstrated both a will and ability to change. Due to enhanced competitiveness, Norwegian industry plays a key role also in the Snorre Expansion project. We estimate that 80 percent of the investments will include companies in Norway. Competitiveness has a short shelf-life however, and it is vital that the improvement work continues with unabated strength,” says Øvrum.

Based on analyses from Agenda Kaupang, around 23,000 man-years will be carried out in Norway in the Snorre Expansion Project phase.

Snorre Expansion plans to start production in 2021, and will be operated and maintained by the existing Snorre organisation in Stavanger, while supplies will still be handled by Fjordbase in Florø.

Partners in the Snorre field are: Statoil Petroleum AS (33.27%), Petoro AS (30%), ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS (17.44%), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (9.6%), DEA Norge AS (8.57%) and Point Resources AS (1.1%).

MAJOR SPIN-OFFS FOR NORWEGIAN SUPPLIER INDUSTRY
Statoil has submitted four plans for development and operation in 2017: Njord and Bauge in the Norwegian Sea, Johan Castberg in the Barents Sea and now Snorre Expansion Project in the North Sea.

Total investment costs are around NOK 90 billion

FACTS - PLAN
24 new wells, 12 for production and 12 for injection
A total of six new subsea templates for production and alternating water/gas injection

Pipelines and umbilicals between the subsea templates and Snorre A

Upgrading of Snorre A for reception of production from the subsea templates and for supplying injection water and gas to the subsea templates

FACTS - FIELD
The Snorre field was discovered in 1979 and production started in 1992

Snorre is a giant in the North Sea, and one of the fields with the largest remaining reserves in Statoil’s portfolio of oil producing fields on the Norwegian continental shelf

Expected production when PDO was submitted was 750 million barrels of oil. So far, the Snorre field has produced 1.4 billion barrels of oil

Planned field recovery rate is currently 46 percent. The rate is expected to rise to 51 percent following the Snorre Expansion Project

The field is located in the Tampen area in the northern part of the North Sea
Water depth is 300 – 380 metres

Snorre field life was originally expected to last until 2011–2014. It is now expected to produce beyond 2040

Statoil has submitted a bid in the offshore wind tender Hollandse Kust Zuid area I&II, an up to 760 MW project in the Dutch part of the North Sea. This is the first non-subsidy tender for offshore wind projects in the world.

The Finnish clean energy company Wello has developed a wave energy solution, which captures the energy derived from passing ocean waves. The company has now received its’ first order a commercial wave energy park. The electricity produced from the park will have zero emissions.

New oil exploration in Arctic federal waters was underway last week with the spudding of a new oil well from an existing man-made island in the Beaufort Sea.

Bay State Wind, the partnership between Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) and Eversource, submitted their bid on December 20, 2017, in response to the Massachusetts’ first RFP for offshore wind energy generation.