Statoil reported on August 19, 2016, that the company and its partners submitted the Plan for Development and Operation of the Byrding oil and gas discovery in the North Sea to government authorities.
The partners in the field are: operator Statoil (45% stake), Wintershall (owns 25%), a unit of Germany's BASF, France's Engie (15%) and Japan's Idemitsu (15%).
The original capital expenditure costs totalled Norwegian Crowns 3.5 billion*. However, the Norwegian player expects to now spend a reduced amount of Norwegian Crowns 1 billion* ($121.83 million).
«Combined with the use of an available well slot in an existing subsea template this reduces the costs of the project substantially. The project is profitable also in the current oil price environment,» says Torger Rød, Statoil’s senior vice president for project development.
Development of the Byrding discovery has been considered for the past decade. Production start scheduled in Q3 2017. Statoil reporting the project will yield a return in the same year as investments are made.
Recoverable volumes seen at around 11 million barrels of oil equivalent
Byrding will remain on stream for 8 to 10 years.
*($1 = 8.2 Norwegian Crowns)
