Statoil and its partners have submitted the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) and the Field Development Plan (FDP) for the Utgard gas and condensate discovery in the North Sea to Norwegian and UK authorities.

According to Statoil, recoverable reserves are estimated at 56.4 million barrels of oil equivalent, whereas capital expenditures are projected at about NOK 3.5 billion.

Discovered in 1982 Utgard (formerly Alfa Sentral) is located 21 kilometers from the Sleipner field. The discovery has been considered for development on several occasions in the past.

“I am very pleased that we now can realize a commercial development of Utgard. This clearly demonstrates the effects of the improvement work that has taken place in the oil and gas industry in recent years,” says Torger Rød, Statoil’s senior vice president for project development.

Utgard straddles the UK-Norway median line, the majority of the reserves being located on the Norwegian side.

“Utgard is the first Statoil development in many years producing resources across the median line, and we are pleased to have found good solutions that address considerations for good resource management on both sides. Good and efficient cooperation across the board, both in relation to partners and government authorities, has made this development possible,” Rød says.

The Utgard development will include two wells in a standard subsea concept, with one drilling target on each side of the median line. All installations and infrastructure being located in the Norwegian sector, the UK well will be drilled from the subsea template on the Norwegian continental shelf. The distance from the subsea template to the median line is 450 meters.

Gas and condensate will be piped through a new pipeline to the Sleipner field for processing and further transportation to the market. The Utgard gas has a high CO2 content, and will benefit from carbon cleaning and storage at Sleipner. Reuse of existing infrastructure is essential to the development of the Utgard discovery.

The Utgard wells are scheduled to come on stream at the end of 2019. In the plateau phase, the field will produce approximately some 7,000 Sm3 per day of oil equivalent.

“Utgard provides new production which will be essential to further developing the Sleipner area, supporting the company’s ambitious targets for future activity and value creation,” Rød says.

The license ownership interests in the discovery are as follows:

– Norwegian sector: Statoil (operator) 62 percent, LOTOS 28 percent, TOTAL 10 percent;

– UK sector: Statoil UK (operator) 100 percent.