Vår Energi AS and Partner Plan to Extend Production from the Balder Area to 2045
Vår Energi AS and license partner Mime Petroleum AS plan to extend the Balder and Ringhorne production lifetime to 2045. The Balder Future project – revised plan for Development and Operations for Balder and Ringhorne, was submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy today.
The Balder Future project involves drilling thirteen new production wells and one new water injection well on the Balder field the North Sea. The aim is to recover 136 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe).
The project also includes extending the lifetime of the floating production storage and offloading vessel Jotun A FPSO.
The document was formally handed over by Vår Energi AS CEO Kristin F. Kragseth to the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Kjell-Børge Freiberg during a short ceremony at the MPE offices in Oslo today.
Increased recovery
The Balder field is in production license PL 001 – the very first license on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). On current production estimates, the project will give the license a total lifespan of over 80 years.
We are proud to carry the PL 001 legacy forward, and by utilizing existing infrastructure, we contribute to good resource management on the NCS. For Vår Energi this is a major step, and we are proud to be the operator of the Balder Future project, which will be one of the largest projects on the NCS the coming years, says Kragseth.
Balder Future represents a NOK 19,6 billion investment, and is expected to create almost 30 000 man-years of work through the development project and operations to 2045.
In addition to the new production wells, the project will enable the drilling of extra subsea infill wells, and new wells from the neighboring Ringhorne platform. Vår Energi also has plans to execute further exploration drilling in the area, which if successful will potentially add even more reserves. All these activities will take place while ordinary production continues at the Balder and Ringhorne fields.
Local suppliers
Earlier this year, Vår Energi AS had already awarded an EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation) contract to Rosenberg Worley AS in Stavanger, Norway for the lifetime extension of the Jotun A FPSO. Also Baker Hughes and Ocean Installer in Stavanger, will engineer, procure, construct and install new subsea production systems (SPS), umbilicals, risers and flowlines for the Jotun A FPSO.
We want to generate opportunities wherever we have our business, and do what we can to create employment and industry ripple effects. I’m happy to see that the main contracts have been awarded locally – which will benefit the supplier industry in the Stavanger region, says Balder Future Project Manager, Lars Håvardsholm.
The Jotun A FPSO will be brought to shore mid 2020 for its upgrade and life extension. During the summer of 2022 the vessel will be reinstalled in the area between the Balder and Ringhorne fields.
Growth plans
Vår Energi has reserves and resources of more than 1,900 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe). Daily production is expected to reach 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent by 2023, following NOK 65 billion investments in development projects on the NCS. Balder Future is a key project in this growth plan.
