(Aker BP, 16.Dec.2022) — Aker BP ASA has together with Equinor Energy and LOTOS Exploration & Production Norge AS made a final investment decision to develop the Yggdrasil area. Plans for development and operation was submitted to the Minister of Petroleum and Energy on 16 December 2022.
Yggdrasil, formerly known as NOAKA, consists of the Hugin, Fulla and Munin licence groups, and the area is located between Alvheim and Oseberg. The area is home to a number of discoveries and contains a total of around 650 million barrels of oil equivalent. Total investments are projected at NOK115bn.
Solid concept
Extensive new infrastructure is planned for the area. The concept consists of an unmanned production platform to the north developed by Equinor (Munin) and a processing platform with well area and living quarters developed by Aker BP (Hugin A) to the south. Hugin A is planned with low manning levels and is also being developed to be periodically unmanned after a few years of operation.
Hugin A will provide services such as receiving and stabilising oil and treatment of produced water to Munin and will also deliver water for injection to the subsea production facilities. The Frøy field will be developed with a normally unmanned wellhead platform (Hugin B) that will be tied back to Hugin A. Yggdrasil also represents an extensive subsea development with a total of nine templates, pipelines and umbilicals. 55 wells are planned in the area.
Gas will be exported through a shared pipeline from Hugin A via Munin to Statpipe and Kårstø, while oil will be exported through a shared pipeline from Hugin A to the Grane oil pipeline and Stureterminalen. Separate joint ventures have been established for the export pipelines for gas and oil with Equinor as operator.
Yggdrasil will be developed with a shared power supply from shore, operated by Aker BP. Connection to the central grid is planned in Samnanger in Vestland County. The solution will contribute to very low emissions from the area.
The entire Yggdrasil area will be remotely operated from an integrated operations centre and control room onshore in Stavanger. Trough Yggdrasil the licence partners are setting a new standard in the way to operate a field, with remotely controlled operations, unmanned production platforms, new technology and data-driven decisions and work processes.
Change in operatorship
Until final investment decision, Equinor was the operator for Munin. When the PDO was submitted, Aker BP took over as operator, making the company the operator for the entire Yggdrasil area in both the development and operations phases. The licence partners agree that one operator will be well-positioned for efficient project execution and safe and streamlined operations.
Vast ripple effects
The Yggdrasil development will result in significant ripple effects and estimated employment effect is more than 50,000 full-time equivalents in the development and operations phases. The Norwegian share is expected to be over 55 per cent. Yards at Stord, Egersund, Haugesund, Verdal and Sandnessjøen, along with hundreds of suppliers scattered across the country, will be contributing.
Alongside PDOs submittal, Aker BP has entered into Yggdrasil agreements valued at over NOK50bn with alliance partners and suppliers.
All agreements and contracts are contingent on the Norwegian Parliament’s sanctioning of the project.
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