Video: Giant Module for Johan Sverdrup Loaded Out
Statoil reports that Samsung Heavy Industries has completed and loaded out the riser platform for its giant Johan Sverdrup offshore development. The offshore facility is now aboard the heavy lift ship Dockwise White Marlin and is nearly ready to depart on a voyage to the Norwegian continental shelf.
The Johan Sverdrup field contains reserves of about two to three billion barrels of oil equivalent, putting it in the size range of historic Norwegian continental shelf finds like Gullfaks and Oseberg. Thanks to cost savings after the oil market downturn, Sverdrup will be developed so economically that it would break even at $20 per barrel, Statoil says. Phase 1 will cost only about $11 billion, about 30 percent less than initially projected, and will come online towards the end of 2019. Phase 2 will cost an additional $6 billion and will be complete in 2022. At its peak, Johan Sverdrup's output should hit 660,000 bpd, or about one quarter of Norway's total.
“Johan Sverdrup is a world-class project and continues to deliver. There is high quality in project execution, the costs are decreasing, and the resource estimate goes up," said Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for projects and drilling at Statoil. “Johan Sverdrup is also benefiting from the drilling and well improvement programme in Statoil. We’ve drilled more wells than planned, more than one year ahead of plan, which has contributed greatly to cost reductions in the project." Statoil has also been keeping costs down on the megaproject by standardizing equipment packages and incorporating more automation, said Kjetel Digre, the field's project director.
In addition to the riser platform, the drilling module platform has also been assembled and loaded out, and it awaits installation later this summer. The 560-bed living quarters platform will follow shortly thereafter.