Royal Dutch Shell has announced the postponement of a Norwegian subsea gas project because of increasing costs and complexity.
Shell said on Friday it would not be providing subsea compression at the North Sea’s Ormen Lange, the second-biggest Norwegian gas field, despite the objections of a key licence partner.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
According to the company, it will not reassess the decision for several years, until it has new technology and reservoir information.
In order to save on rising costs in Norway’s vast offshore oil sector and earn more cash for dividends, major developments are being cancelled or delayed by various oil firms.
Although Shell gave no cost estimate, a subsea compression project by Statoil at the Aasgard field is estimated to cost Nkr15bn ($2.5bn).
Ormen Lange is more complex because waters are deeper and there would be no platform nearby to supply power and other equipment.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataOrmen Lange management committee chairman Odin Estensen said the oil and gas industry is witnessing a cost challenge.
Norwegian oil services firm Aker Solution designed and built the compression-pilot project for the field, hoping Shell and its partners would use the technology.
Ormen Lange partners Statoil (25.4%), Dong Energy (14%) and Exxon Mobil (6.3%) supported the delay, but Norway-based Petoro (36.5%) opposed it.
The gas field is situated 120km north-west of Kristiansund, where seabed depths vary between 800m and 1,100m.
Image: Ormen Lange natural gas field on the Norwegian continental shelf. Photo: courtesy of © Norsk Hydro ASA 2002
.gif)
