Aker BP and its partners DNO Norge and Equinor Energy have commenced production at the Symra field in the Norwegian North Sea, nine months ahead of the planned start-up date.
Located in the central North Sea, Symra sits 5km north-east of the Aker BP-operated Ivar Aasen field.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Symra has been developed with four wells connected via a subsea template to the Ivar Aasen platform.
Production from Symra will undergo initial processing at Ivar Aasen before final processing at the Edvard Grieg platform, which is also operated by Aker BP. Both platforms have been modified to support the subsea tie-in to Ivar Aasen and to expand processing capacity at Edvard Grieg.
The Symra project was executed in close cooperation with a range of key suppliers.
TechnipFMC was tasked with the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the subsea systems. Platform upgrades were split between Moreld Apply, which completed the modifications on Edvard Grieg, and Aibel, which carried out the work on Ivar Aasen.
Drilling was performed by Odfjell Drilling and Halliburton under Aker BP’s drilling and wells alliance.
Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said: “Symra shows what is possible when strong partners work as one: safe delivery, high quality and faster execution. It is also a step into a new part of the Eiga area and a new reservoir type on the Norwegian shelf, creating value for shareholders, partners and society.”
Symra is the first field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf producing from the Zechstein carbonate reservoir.
Discovered in 2018, Symra’s plan for development and operation received approval in 2023. The field comprises several segments at a water depth of 110m.
It is estimated to contain gross reserves of 60 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) and the project partners anticipate that further drilling could unlock additional resources.
The field contains oil in reservoirs within the Zechstein Group of Permian age, underlying basement rocks and intra-Heather sandstone of Middle Jurassic age at a depth of 1,800m.
Aker BP is the operator of the Symra field with a 50% stake, while Equinor and DNO Norge hold stakes of 30% and 20%, respectively. The field is spread over production licenses PL167, 167B and 167C.
DNO executive chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said: “Symra propels us along the path to our ambitious North Sea 2030 production target. Very few oil companies in Norway are on a credible growth trajectory. We are.”
