The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has given the green light to BP to use the platform on the Tambar field in the North Sea offshore Norway until January 1, 2022.

The NPD, a government agency whose task is to manage the oil and gas resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, said that this coincides with the expiry of production licence 065.

The lifetime for the BP-operated platform was set at 15 years in the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO), which is up to July 15, 2016.

The Tambar oil field is located in the southern part of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, about 16 kilometres southeast of the Ula field. The field was developed with a remote-controlled wellhead platform without process equipment.

The field is produced with depressurisation. Natural gas expansion combined with pressure support from water drive are the most important drive mechanisms.

The oil is transported to Ula via pipeline. Following processing, the oil is exported by pipeline to Teesside in the UK via Ekofisk, while the gas is injected in the Ula reservoir to increase oil recovery.

BP Norge is the operator of production licence 065, with an ownership interest of 55 per cent. DONG E&P Norge is the licensee with an ownership interest of 45 per cent.

Due to BP’s application for extension of operating life for Tambar, the platform was recently audited by the Norwegian offshore safety agency, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA).