Norwegian oil and gas player Aker BP has started production from a field in the North Sea, which has been tied back to an existing platform off the coast of Norway.
The Hanz subsea field development, discovered in 1997, was brought online after the Norwegian Offshore Directorate granted its consent for the start-up of production in February 2024. This field has been tied into the Ivar Aasen platform about 15 kilometers further south, with total investments estimated at close to NOK 5 billion (about $453.8 million).
The total reserves at Hanz are around 20 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe). The Ivar Aasen field , located on Utsira High in the northern part of the North Sea, around 175 km west of Karmøy, receives electric power from shore via the Johan Sverdrup field, thereby minimizing CO2 emissions.
Following the delivery of the plan for development and operation (PDO) for the Ivar Aasen area, which included the Hanz development, the project matured an optimized development solution by re-using subsea production systems (SPS) from the Jette field . Aker BP highlights that this is the first time production equipment has been re-used in a new field development on the NCS.
Karl Johnny Hersvik , Aker BP’s CEO, commented: “This is yet another great example of what we can achieve working as one team with our suppliers towards a common goal and with shared incentives. In addition, innovative solutions with reuse of infrastructure and use of cross-flow well have contributed to lower costs and lower emissions.”
Furthermore, Aker BP explains that the oil and gas recovery strategy was changed to include the use of a cross-flow well for water injection, leading to a “substantial” reduction of power consumption, less use of chemicals, and less equipment on the seabed.
This change in the development solution for Hanz since the original PDO was submitted led the partnership to send a formal statement regarding the investment decision and the selected concept to the authorities in December 2021 .
Stine Kongshaug McIntosh , Aker BP’s VP Projects Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen, remarked: “This development solution will be more cost-efficient and have a smaller environmental footprint than originally planned for. This is in line with Aker BP’s continuous search for improvements, where the goal is to produce with low costs and low emissions.”
The Hanz field lies in production license 028 B , which is operated by Aker BP (35% interest) with Equinor (50%) and Sval Energi (15%) as its partners.