First Oil flows from Vilje subsea templates
The Vilje field is located in the northern part of the North Sea, north of the Heimdal field. StatoilHydro is the operator of the field, with a 28.85 percent interest.
Vilje is the first StatoilHydro-operated field on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) tied in to an installation that is run by another operator.
The field development concept includes two subsea templates and two production wells. Oil from Vilje is piped in a new 19-kilometre pipeline to the Alvheim FPSO, which is operated by Marathon Petroleum Norge AS.
The oil from Vilje is brought up naturally without any form of stimulation. The field is connected to a giant water zone and water injection will therefore not be required.
Former field analyses have confirmed the existence of high quality sand with undersaturated oil. The recoverable reserves at Vilje are estimated at 52 million barrels of oil, and the production is expected to reach a plateau of 35,000 barrels per day by the end of second quarter 2008.
StatoilHydro focuses heavily on technology development and has a good track record both within improved oil recovery and drilling and well technology.
Several StatoilHydro fields rank among the very best in the global petroleum industry with regard to rate of recovery. This is largely a result of the company's combination of expert skills within geology and engineering disciplines with a focus on new technology.
In order to administer the natural resources in an optimal way it is also essential that StatoilHydro continuously evaluate the operations of existing and new oil and gas fields.
"Vilje is one of several small-size fields where we get a chance to test new forms of operation. This field is StatoilHydro's first development without tie-in to an installation operated by the company. The oil is transported to the Alvheim FPSO for further processing," says asset manager Vidar Nygård Karlsen.
