Approval of the two plans means that Ekofisk will now be prepared for production for decades to come.
Ekofisk South entails building a new wellhead platform, 2/4 Z, and a seabed facility for water injection. The Ekofisk 2/4 Z platform will have slots for 36 production wells, while eight water injection wells will go from the seabed facility. Ekofisk South is expected to increase the recovery rate from the Ekofisk field from 49.5 to 52 percent (25-35 million Sm3) and represents total partner investments of 25-30 billion Norwegian kroner. The new platform will be connected to the Ekofisk Complex by a bridge.
Eldfisk II comprises a new integrated platform (wellhead, process and living quarters), Eldfisk 2/7 S, connected to the existing Eldfisk Complex. 40 new wells for production and water injection from the platform are planned. The new platform will also enable continued use of existing platforms on the Eldfisk and Embla fields and two new wells will be drilled from the existing 2/7 A platform. Eldfisk II is expected to increase the recovery rate from the Eldfisk field from 22 to 28.5 percent (35-45 million Sm3) and represents total partner investments of 35-40 billion Norwegian kroner.
The timeframe for Ekofisk South is production start-up late in 2013, while Eldfisk II is planned to be in production in 2015.
The Ekofisk field was discovered in 1969 and Eldfisk in 1970. The Ekofisk field started production in 1971, while Eldfisk has been producing since 1979. The two fields represent most of the production from the Greater Ekofisk Area, which in 2010 was in average gross 264,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The production license 018 consists of operator ConocoPhillips (35.11 percent), Total E&P Norge (39.90 percent), Eni Norge (12.39 percent), Statoil Petroleum (7.60 percent) and Petoro (5.00 percent).
Press contact: Stig S. Kvendseth, telephone +47 52 02 12 01 / +47 959 45 177, email: stig.s.kvendseth@conocophillips.com