Statoil considers to build a floating production unit for the Skrugard field and adjacent structures.

A new study concludes that the floating unit will provide both quick and cost efficient development of the Skrugard field, a press release from Statoil reads. In addition, the unit will be able to serve also several other nearby field structures, Statoil maintains.

The unit will have an oil production capacity of 95.000 tons per day. Fourteen production compartments will be placed on the seabed.

With the development plan for the Skrugard field, Statoil and its project partners will in fact establish a new center for oil and gas production in the Barents Sea. Project Director Erik Strand Tellefsen says that the center can include both processing facilities and transport capacities to other structures.

–This is in line with Statoil´s ambitions to develop the Barents Sea into a core area on the Norwegian shelf, Tellefsen underlines.

The Skrugard field is located about 100 km north of the Snøhvit field away from any existing infrastructure.

Several nearby structures are considered as promising and Statoil will in the near future drill an exploration well at the Havis structure with the Aker Barents rig. The rig will afterwards drill an appraisal well at Skrugard.

Preliminary estimates show that the Skrugard field contains about 25o million tons of oil equivalents. The project team will be based in Statoil´s regional headquarters in Harstad.

-We build on our own experiences and the experiences of our partners and bring with us the learning from the Goliat field and quick development projects, Director Tellefsen says. Skrugard will mainly be built with existing technology designed for harsh weather conditions.