Statoil Petroleum AS (Statoil) has received consent for continued operation of the Brage platform, as new technology has led to new solutions that can improve recovery from the field.
Statoil is the operator of Brage, an oil field in the northern part of the North Sea, between Oseberg and Troll. The field has been developed with a production, drilling and living quarters facility with a steel jacket at a water depth of 140 metres. The field started producing in 1993. The Brage rig was constructed for an estimated lifetime of 20 years.
Further operation of a platform beyond the originally planned lifetime assumes that the operator obtains a renewed consent for use.
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has now granted consent for use of the rig up to April 2015, when the relevant production licences expire. If the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approves the application from Statoil for extension of the production licences up to 2030, this will be contingent upon submission of a new application for consent for use from the PSA.
The consent is granted on the basis of, among other things, Statoil’s documentation of assessments which conclude that the rig can continue to operate in a safe and prudent manner and in compliance with regulatory requirements.
[mappress]
Press Release, May 27, 2013