Oseberg Vestflanken 2 Field Comes On Stream

Equinor has started production at the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 field in the North Sea on Sunday.

Remote-operated from the Oseberg field centre, the new Oseberg H platform is the first unmanned platform on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“With Oseberg H we take a huge technological leap forward. The fully automatic, unmanned and remote-operated platform is digitalization in practice, and I am proud of Equinor and its partners having chosen this in-house developed solution,” said Anders Opedal, Equinor’s executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling.

The project was delivered at NOK 6.5 billion, more than 20% lower than the cost estimate of the plan for development and operation (PDO), the company noted.

Maintenance campaigns are to be carried out once or twice a year on the platform. While the Askepott rig is drilling wells through the platform, the maintenance personnel will stay on the rig. Afterwards the personnel will stay on a vessel hooked up to Oseberg H by a gangway.

“Oseberg H is the first platform of its kind on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), with no facilities, not even a toilet. The topside weighs only a good 1 000 tonnes, another example of simplification in practice. This platform only has the bare essentials,” said Opedal.

“Oseberg H is a pilot and our first unmanned platform. We are further developing the concept and believe that the next version will be even more competitive,” Opedal added.

The 11 wells on Oseberg Vestflanken 2 will be drilled by the Askepott jack-up rig owned by the Oseberg licence. Nine wells will be drilled through the Oseberg H platform and two through an existing subsea template. Pipelines and subsea equipment have also been installed.

“With the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 development we keep expanding the massive infrastructure at the Oseberg field. This is a key contribution to renewing and securing long-term NCS activity,” said Arne Sigve Nylund, Equinor’s executive vice president for Development and Production Norway.

“In the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 development innovation and high value creation go hand in hand, in line with our plans for the NCS,” added Nylund.