Equinor and the Gudrun partners have decided to invest in a water injection plant on the Gudrun field to improve reservoir recovery.
This will extend the field life by three years compared to the original plan, Equinor informed.
“ We are pleased about the partnership’s decision to invest NOK 2.4 billion in further development of the Gudrun field. Water injection will improve recovery from the reservoir and utilize existing infrastructure on the field. This is a robust and good project, ” said Tom Elseth , Equinor’s project director for Gudrun.
The water injection project will produce water from the Utsira formation and reinject it into the reservoir for pressure support and increased production. In addition, a new production well will be drilled.
“ This is a good example of how we secure long-term activity on the Norwegian continental shelf. Based on deeper understanding of the reservoir and technology development we are able to increase the recovery rate and value creation from the field while extending the field life to 2032, three years longer than originally scheduled in the plan for development and operation (PDO),” said Marit Lunde , vice president for Gudrun operations in Development & Production Norway.
The measures implemented to extend the field life are referred to as Gudrun Phase 2.
The Gudrun PDO was approved by Norwegian authorities in 2010 and the field came on stream in 2014. Seven wells are currently in production on the field.
“ The accommodation on the Gudrun platform is small. To be able to carry out offshore modifications and complete the work by 2021, we must use the Rowan Stavanger rig while it is carrying out scheduled production drilling on the field, ” said Elseth .
The rig will have catering capacity for personnel involved in both drilling and installation activities.
Furthermore, a contract for detail engineering, fabrication, installation and start-up of the water injection plant has been awarded to the service company Aibel. The contract value is around NOK 500 million.
Equinor and its licence partners plan to start up the water injection plant during 2021.