Drilling Begins at Ivar Aasen Field Offshore Norway
Thursday 22 January 2015
The drilling rig Maersk Interceptor has commenced the drilling programme on the Ivar Aasen field in the North Sea. The campaign has a duration of three years and comprises a total of 15 wells in addition to three pilot wells. Det norske oljeselskap is the operator of the Ivar Aasen field.
The drilling programme for the Ivar Aasen field kicks off with the drilling of three pilot wells for further mapping of the underground. The drilling of pilot wells will be concluded by the summer of 2015.
The three upcoming pilot wells are important to the licensees. They will enable us to retrieve important reservoir information at an earlier stage. This will create added value for the Ivar Aasen licence, says Inge Sundet, the drilling manager for Ivar Aasen.
The drilling campaign on Ivar Aasen will be carried out by the drilling rig Maersk Interceptor, the world's largest jack-up rig. The rig has been contracted by Det norske for a period of five years, with an option of additional two years. The Ivar Aasen field is planned developed with a total of 15 wells; eight production wells and seven water injection wells.
The Ivar Aasen field comprises three deposits: Ivar Aasen, West Cable and Hanz. Ivar Aasen is located west of the Johan Sverdrup field and contains 210 million barrels of oil equivalents. Production start-up is planned for the fourth quarter of 2016. The economic life of the field may be 20 years, depending on oil price and production trends.
Det norske oljeselskap ASA is the operator for the Ivar Aasen development, holding a 34.7862 per cent interest in the field. Partners are Statoil, Bayerngas, Wintershall, VNG, Lundin and OMV.