Far more oil and gas is now being produced from subsea wells on the Norwegian continental shelf than from platform wells.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has collated production from the fields in 2010 and found that subsea wells dominat the picture.
Last year, almost 131.3 million standard cubic meters (Sm3 o.e.) oil equivalents were produced from subsea wells and about 125.4 Sm3 o.e. from platform wells.
Increased production of gas has caused the production from subsea wells to exceed production from the fixed platforms. Large gas producers, such as the Troll field in the North Sea and Ormen Lange and Åsgard in the Norwegian Sea, contribute extensively with their many subsea facilities.
In the past ten years, the trend of more subsea wells has been rising. Increasingly improved technological solutions have made it possible to develop many small reservoirs using subsea facilities in instances where a solution with a fixed platform has not been commercially viable.
[mappress] Source: npd,June 08, 2011;