Engie E&P Norge, Norwegian affiliate to French energy company Engie, formerly known as GDF Suez, has increased its gas production from the North Sea gas field Gjøa by 17.5 percent.
Moreover, Engie said, this is a record-high level for the gas field that is scheduled to produce 60 million barrels of oil equivalents more than estimated at the start of production.
Gjøa is Engie’s first production operatorship on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The gas field is located in the North Sea, 60 kilometers west of Florø. The reservoir sits on top of a thin oil rim and contains an estimated 40 billion cubic meters of gas reserves.
Hilde Ådland , Head of Operations of Engie E&P Norge: “Gjøa was originally designed to export 17 million standard cubic meters of gas per day (MSm3). That we are currently producing 20 MSm³/d, 17.5 percent more than estimated, is a great achievement.”
According to Engie, the last milestone on the road to increased gas production was reached on March 7 this year when Gjøa produced 20 MSm3 per day for the first time. The 3 million Sm3 increase has, Engie said, increased gas revenues by NOK 5 million (600,000$) per day for the Gjøa license.
Ådland further said: “Going from a limited export level of 10.5 MSm³/d due to singing risers in 2010, to the current production level has been an exciting process. We have continually focused on challenging limitations and trying to find solutions, which has yielded good results. Now that we’ve achieved 20 MSm³/day, it is an extra bonus that we’re also experiencing a regularity of 98.3 per cent.”
Engie’s Head of Operations also added that due to good reservoir management, Gjøa is set to produce 60 million barrels of oil equivalent more than it was initially anticipated at the beginning of production and in total the aim is to produce 400 mboe during its lifetime.
Engie noted that putting a greater focus on costs in return reduced the operating expenses on Gjøa by 10 percent from 2015 to 2016. The company also added that it is already working on further reducing the costs in 2017.