OIL & GAS
Exceptional Ekofisk
Since starting production in 1971, Ekofisk has been further developed with many facilities, including facilities for associated fields and export pipelines. Several of the initial facilities have already been removed or are awaiting decommissioning.
Photo courtesy of ConocoPhilips.
THIS YEAR MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EKOFISK FIELD STARTING UP, MAKING NORWAY AN OIL-PRODUCING NATION. DURING this half of a century, the fields on the Norwegian shelf have collectively produced oil and gas valued at a dizzying USD 1,925 billion.
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kofisk has been – and remains – an important contributor to this. It’s a story of bright minds and smart methods, which in many ways illustrates Norwegian petroleum history. “The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate congratulates operator ConocoPhillips and the licensees on achieving yet another milestone. Ekofisk must be one of the finest examples of maximum resource utilisation through improved recovery measures”, says Director General Ingrid Sølvberg of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
Three billion barrels
Ekofisk is a field in the southern part of the Norwegian sector in the North Sea. The water depth is 70m. The values come from a reservoir 3,000m below the seabed. More than three billion barrels of oil have been produced so far from the 300m oil column here. If the licensees are able to increase the recovery rate by a few more percentage points, this will have a substantial impact on value creation from Ekofisk. The field was
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discovered in 1969, and the initial plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 1972. Test production was initiated in 1971 and ordinary production started in 1972. Production was initially routed to tankships until a concrete storage tank was installed in 1973. Since then, the field has been further developed with many facilities, including facilities for associated fields and export pipelines. Gas from the Ekofisk area is transported via the Norpipe gas pipeline to Emden in Germany, while the oil is sent via the Norpipe oil pipeline to Teesside in the UK.
Water injection
The initial field development started with three production platforms: Ekofisk A, Ekofisk B, and Ekofisk C. Wellhead platform Ekofisk X and process platform Ekofisk J were installed in 1996 and 1998 respectively as part of the Ekofisk II project. In 2005, wellhead platform Ekofisk M was installed as part of the Ekofisk Growth Project. Water injection made a strong contribution towards extending
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