Vår Energi taking Jotun FPSO ashore to kick off Balder Future project

Oil and gas company Vår Energi is taking the Jotun FPSO ashore for upgrading to start the first stage of the life-extension process for the Balder Area in the North Sea.

Vår Energi said on Monday that the FPSO was on its way to Rosenberg Worley’s facility in Stavanger for upgrading.

The Jotun FPSO has been producing oil from the Jotun field in the North Sea since 1999 and this event kicks off Balder’s life-extension process.

Vår Energi CEO, Kristin F. Kragseth, said: “I am happy and very proud to have Jotun back in Stavanger. Happy because this marks the start of Vår Energi’s most important project going forward. Proud because we secure jobs for the local supplier industry at a very challenging time”.

The company added that the COVID-19 pandemic and low oil prices created great uncertainty for the project. With that in mind, an assessment was needed to get an overview of potential consequences. At the same time, Vår Energi took compensatory measures to reduce the effects of COVID-19 and maintain the progress plan.

The project review showed that the pandemic resulted in a delay of part deliveries, but that the overall plan was still valid.

With the Norwegian Parliament’s decision on measures for the industry and the other compensatory measures in place, Vår Energi stated that it was confident that the project could be carried out with a production start date in the second half of 2022.

The Balder Future project will extend the life of the field (PL 001) by 2045, giving Norway’s oldest license a lifetime of 80 years.

In addition to the upgrade of the Jotun FPSO, 13 new production wells and one water injection well will be drilled on the field. The project aims to extract another 136 million barrels of oil equivalent.

“We are proud to be continuing the PL 001 legacy, and by utilizing existing infrastructure we contribute to good resource management”, Kragseth said.

It is worth noting that the Balder Future project represents an investment of NOK 19.6 billion ($2 billion).

Jotun was built at the Kværner Rosenberg shipyard in Finland and shipped to Rosenberg in Stavanger for completion in the late ’90s. Just over 20 years later, the vessel is back in town.

Jotun is expected to enter Åmøyfjorden on Monday, June 15. Here, the vessel will undergo preparation works for two weeks before the last tow into the Rosenberg Worley facility in Stavanger.

The upgrade of the Jotun FPSO includes an overhaul of the turret, pipes, process equipment, hulls, marine systems, living quarters, control, and security systems.

The “new” Jotun FPSO will arrive between the Balder FPSO and the Ringhorne platform during the summer of 2022.

In addition to Rosenberg Worley, Stavanger-based branches of Baker Hughes and Ocean Installer have been selected to carry out engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of new subsea systems (SPS), umbilicals, risers, and transport pipes for the Jotun FPSO.

The proportion of Norwegian suppliers in the project is 70 per cent.