Valhall oil field

Valhall is an oil field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Discovered in 1975 (Ref. SPE 83957), production began in 1982 and is expected to continue until 2050. Valhall is located in 70 metres of water.

Development

The field was originally developed with three facilities (QP, DP and PCP) but now the complex consists of five separate steel platforms that are bridge-connected. There are also two unmanned flank platforms, one in the south and one in the north, both around 6 kilometres from the field centre.

Quarters Platform (QP)

The QP was built in 1979 and started being used in July 1981. It has accommodation for 208 people.

Drilling Platform (DP)

The DP is situated centrally and has 30 well slots. The platform started operation on 17 December, 1981 with the first covered derrick.

Production Platform (PCP)

The PCP is built to process convert|168000|oilbbl|m3 of oil and convert|350|Mcuft|m3 of gas per day. The platform is 65 metres high and weighs 21,000 tons. The oil production is piped to 2/4-J at the Ekofisk Center and goes to Teesside in England. The gas is transported directly via the Norpipe pipeline to Emden in Germany. The platform also processes oil and gas that comes from the Hod oil field.

Wellhead Platform (WP)

The WP was installed in April 1996 and first oil production started in June the same year. WP has 19 well slots. A central location and spare available capacity make it possible for the Valhall complex to also receive oil and gas from several adjacent fields.

Water Injection Platform (WIP)

The WIP is a fixed steel platform, bridge linked to the existing Valhall WP. Water injection is expected to increase oil recovery from 31% to 38%. The integrated topsides has water injection facilities, seawater and produced water treatment facilities and power generation. The platform-based drilling rig's configuration allows for drilling and maintenance of wells on the new platform (24 wells total) and on the existing WP platform (19 wells total). The IP has integrated connections to the onshore operating centre. It will contribute 161 million boe to

Valhall Flank Development (VFD)

The VFD consists of two identical unmanned wellhead platforms each equipped with 16 drilling slots and located about 6 km (one to the North and one to the South) from the existing Valhall Facilities where wellstreams will be processed.

Initially about eight wells will be drilled from each platform. There is room for future water injection at either wellhead platform. The two wellhead platforms are powered from Valhall and monitored from the existing Valhall facilities via a fiber optic cable.

Drilling commenced on the South Flank by West Epsilon in October 2002 and continued until August 2003 when it moved to drill the North Flank. The South Flank started production 8 May, 2003. While the North Flank came on stream 7 January, 2004.

New field centre

Due to subsidence of the field centre and a desire to operate more efficiently a new field centre is being developed for Valhall. The new field centre will probably extend the life of the field to 2050.

Production & Hotel (PH) Facility

The PH facility will consist of an integrated processing and housing platform, and is due for installation in 2009. The topsides will weigh 16000 tonnes (including hotel) and have accommodation for 150 people. The steel jacket will weigh 7500 tonnes. This new platform will also have a module for receiving electrical power from shore.

References

[http://www.npd.no/NR/rdonlyres/FD70CE89-BFF8-4FF3-8E85-DCE45000836A/0/valhall_e.pdf Norwegian Petroleum Directorate: Facts 2007 - Valhall]

See also

* List of oil fields

External links

* [http://www.aftenbladet.no/energi/sokkelkart/article523648.ece?english=true Valhall in Aftenbladet Energi Interactive Energy Map]
* [http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9003429&contentId=7008907 BP Norway field information]