Hyme Oil Field, Norway

The Hyme oil field is located in production licence 348 (PL348) between the Draugen and Njord fields in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Formerly known as Gygrid prospect, it was discovered in June 2009. The water depth at the Hyme field is 250m.

Statoil operates the Hyme oil field with majority stake holding of 35%. Other stakeholders are Petoro (7.5%), GDF Suez E&P Norge (20%), E.ON Ruhrgas Norge (17.5%), VNG Norge (2.5%) and Core Energy (17.5%).

Core Energy acquired a stake in the Hyme field from Norwegian Energy Company (Noreco) in July 2011.

Petoro and Faroe Petroleum have agreed upon an asset swap deal which will entitle the latter to gain Petoro's net interest of 7.5% in the Hyme field. The transaction was passed in Norwegian parliament in June 2011 and is expected to be finalised in the last quarter of 2011.

Statoil plans to bring the field into production by the first quarter of 2013. The development of Hyme is estimated to require an investment of NOK4.5bn (approximately $830m).

Reserves at the Hyme oil field

The field is estimated to contain recoverable reserves of 24 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe).

Hyme oil field development

The field development plan for Hyme includes subsea tie-back to the Njord A platform. The subsea template will include four well slots. A dual lateral production well and a water injection well will be drilled.

Statoil submitted the Hyme field development and operation plan to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in May 2011.

The plan was approved in six weeks as part of the Ministry's initiative to expedite the approval process to encourage the development of small fields.

The development of small fields such as Hyme is gaining importance with the Norwegian Continental Shelf becoming more mature, to efficiently exploit the resource potential of the area.

Statoil had put four fields, including Visund South, Vigdis North-East, Katla and Hyme, under fast track development. The company aims to drastically reduce the time taken from discovery to first oil of smaller discoveries.

Njord A platform

Njord A is a floating steel platform built for the development of the Njord field. The Njord field is located approximately 19km south-west of the Hyme field.

The platform has unused process capacity. The tie-in of Hyme will not only help to utilise this spare capacity but also extend the operational life of the platform by five years, from 2015 to 2020.

The platform features an integrated deck with processing and drilling facilities, and living quarters for the staff.

The platform will require a few modifications to allow the tie-in of Hyme production well.

Contractors participating in development of the Hyme oil field

Statoil has placed most of the major supply contracts for the Hyme field development. The contract to supply the subsea production system was awarded to FMC. It was not awarded separately but included as an option in the contract awarded for Visund South, an oil and gas field being developed by Statoil.

Nexans will supply the umbilicals as part of the contract awarded in the first quarter of 2011. The contract to supply flexible risers was awarded to NKT Flexibles in the first quarter of 2011. Subsea7 was contracted during the same period to carryout the installation of the subsea templates.

Technip was awarded the contract for the pipelines and manned installations. Statoil will select a contractor in the second quarter of 2011 to carryout the modifications required to the Njord A platform.