Page 14: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Aug/Sep 2016)

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FIELD OF VIEW

De-engineering

Statoil is applying new concepts and new thinking to the Johan

Castberg development on the Norwegian

Continental Shelf. It’s a DC ? ber optic future,

Elaine Maslin reports.

Transocean’s semisub drilled the Skrugard Polar Pioneer prospect in 2011, now part of the Johan Castberg ? eld.

Photo: Harald Pettersen/Statoil.

uring this year’s Subsea Valley Conference in Olso,

D

Norway, Lundin’s CEO Kristin Færøvik made a typi- cally bold statement: “The good thing about the [low] oil price is it forces us to do things differently. The price had got too

An artist’s illustration of the FPSO. Image from Statoil. high on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. That’s part of my optimism.” drainage strategy,” Sætre told Subsea Valley. “Innovative solu-

The amount of capex shaved off projects was a prominent tions and engineers with good smart ideas” have been brought topic for speakers at the annual event. Statoil’s CEO Eldar to bear.

Sætre stated that having had average US$70/bbl capex in 2013, One solution, which Statoil has been working on with some 80% of the ? rm’s project portfolio now stood at $45/bbl French telecommunications cables ? rm Alcatel Lucent and that was dropping to below $40/bbl. Submarine Networks (ASN), was to develop a new subsea

But, while a large amount of that saving has been helped power and communications cable system, reducing and sim- by a 25-30% drop in rig plifying the in? eld architecture. Statoil has also been taking

Johan Castberg rates, there has also a more risk based approach to in? eld ? owlines protection and (21 September 1862 – 24 December been, even before the oil reassessed its drainage strategy. 1926) was a Norwegian jurist and price plummet, a hunt politician best known for repre-

The ? eld for innovative and smart senting the Radical People’s Party solutions to help reduce The Johan Castberg area is regarded as the next major develop- (Labour Democrats).

costs and simplify ment in the Norwegian Barents Sea, opening up a new prov- developments. ince in the north. A ? nal investment decision has been set

The Johan Castberg development is a case in point. Capex back from the original mid-2014, with production start-up in costs have been reduced by nearly 50%, from $11.3 billion 2018, to today’s planned 2017 decision, with ? rst oil possibly to about $6 billion, thanks to “selecting a ? oating project by late-2022. Delays have focused on costs, but also disap- combined with ef? cient subsea solutions and an effective pointing exploration results in the area and tax changes.

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