On September 19, 2016, Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tord Lien, marked the milestone of 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe) delivered from Statfjord Field since first oil was hit in 1979. Statoil, Centrica and ExxonMobil Corp. joined Lien for the milestone.
Lien filled a gold-colored oil barrel for the occasion during a celebration on Statfjord A.
Originally, the partnership hoped to recover 40% of the oil at Statfjord, but the result so far is a record-high 67%. The additional resources recovered equal the lower production estimate for the Johan Sverdrup Field.
The Statfjord field partners are operator Statoil Petroleum AS, with 44.34% interest; ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, with 21.37%; Centrica Resources (Norge) AS, with 19.76%; and Centrica Resources Ltd., with 14.53% interest.
Active subsurface work, efficient drilling and well operations, and well-operated installations have led Statfjord to increase production in 2016 for the 4rth consecutive year. More than 40 years after it was discovered, the field, which has 451 wells, is still having new, profitable wells drilled on it.
Statfjord’s drilling costs have been reduced by 50%.
The press release noted that the Statfjord Late Life project, in which the field was converted into a gas field from an oil field by reducing reservoir pressure, was the most important decision for the field after the turn of the millennium was made in 2005.
Statoil and its partners still have a horizon for the field until 2025. The high recovery factor is partly due to the Late Life project, which has helped lift the project horizon.
