Lundin marks first anniversary of Edvard Grieg production

lundin-nowayLundin Norway has marked the first anniversary of production from its Norwegian Continental Shelf newcomer, the Edvard Grieg platform. 

Oil and gas production from the Edvard Grieg platform started exactly one year ago and has been running almost continuously since the start-up on November 28, 2015, with production uptime at 96 percent.

Lundin said on Monday that there had been no serious incidents on board and that the oil and gas production figures are higher than expected.

Operations manager Kari Nielsen said: “Edvard Grieg is a fairy tale and nothing less. We believe this is the first time a new platform on the Norwegian shelf has delivered such results in its first year.

“Between 40 and 60 percent is normal during the start-up phase, and this gradually improves over time. However, Edvard Grieg has produced virtually continuously from the very beginning. And those last percentage points missing from a full 100 mainly relate to planned turnarounds for maintenance and preparation.”

Norwegian engineering at work

The main contracts for the construction of Edvard Grieg were performed by the Norwegian companies with Kværner as the primary contractor. Detailed engineering was done by Aker Solutions, the living quarters and helicopter deck were delivered by Apply Leirvik, while construction of the jacket was done at Kværner Verdal.

The platform deck was constructed at Kværner Stord and with Aker Solutions in Egersund while Saipem executed marine operations.

Karl-Petter Løken, the engineering manager for the Edvard Grieg development, added: “Choosing Norwegian contractors gave us an added degree of confidence. We had the advantage of geographic proximity which resulted in a very close and excellent cooperation.

“Kværner and their sub-suppliers have extensive experience with developments for the Norwegian shelf. All of this ensured that we received a high-quality platform.”

Edvard Grieg is Lundin Norway’s first own-operated platform. That meant that the company had to establish new operations organization in parallel with the development.

“We recruited more than 100 people who would ensure efficient and safe production from the Edvard Grieg field. The entire operations organization was in place while the platform was still in the yard. This gave us the time to establish routines and work processes and to familiarize ourselves with the installation while it was still on shore,” said Nielsen.

Lundin said that, on its one-year production start-up anniversary, production on Edvard Grieg remains at a very high production rate, and the platform is expected to reach plateau production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalents a day in the fourth quarter this year.

Edvard Grieg was designed as a field center and will receive oil and gas from nearby fields and future field developments for further processing. It is expected to begin processing oil and gas from Aker BP’s Ivar Aasen in December.

From Edvard Grieg, oil is transported via the Grane pipeline to the Sture terminal in Øygarden municipality in Hordaland County, while gas is transported in a separate pipeline system to St. Fergus in Scotland.