The Eldfisk oil and gas field lies 300km off the coast of the Norwegian North Sea at a water depth of 70m. It is one of the largest oil fields by reserves on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The offshore oil field, which has been in production since 1979, underwent a major expansion project named the Eldfisk II project to increase output and extend the field life up to 2050. The production from the Eldfisk II project, via its new integrated platform 2/7 S, began in January 2015.
Recommended White Papers
Recommended Buyers Guides
With 35.11% ownership, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia is the operator of Eldfisk while TotalEnergies EP Norge (39.9%), Var Energi (12.39%), Sval Energi (7.6%) and Petoro (5%) are the other stakeholders.
The Eldfisk North project, located 7km from the Eldfisk Complex, is currently under development and is expected to commence production in 2024.
Eldfisk location details
The Eldfisk field lies in block 2/7 in the Greater Ekofisk Area. It is located 10km south of the Ekofisk field.
Eldfisk discovery, geology and reserves
The Eldfisk field was discovered in 1970 and received development approval in 1975. The reservoir comprises naturally fractured chalk of the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene age, lying at depths between 2,700m and 2,900m beneath the seabed.
The field produces oil from the Hod, Tor and Ekofisk formations and consists of three structures: Alpha, Bravo and Øst Eldfisk.
The Eldfisk field is estimated to contain recoverable reserves of 27.9 million cubic metres of oil, 4.11 billion cubic metres of gas and 900,000t of natural gas liquids, as of December 2022.
Eldfisk field details
The Eldfisk field comprises of four platforms, including the three bridge-linked platforms Eldfisk 2/7 A, Eldfisk 2/7 FTP and Eldfisk 2/7 E. It also has a combined drilling, wellhead and process platform named Eldfisk 2/7 B, located 6km northwest of the Eldfisk Complex.
Eldfisk 2/7 A is a combined living quarters, drilling and production platform whereas Eldfisk 2/7 FTP is the process platform that receives production from the Eldfisk 2/7 A platform through the bridge connection and from the nearby Embla field through a 5.2km oil and gas pipeline.
Eldfisk 2/7 E is a water injection platform operating since 1999. It produces up to 650,000 barrels of treated water per day, roughly half of which is injected into the Eldfisk reservoir under high pressure with the rest supplied through a 24km pipeline to the water injection facility at the Ekofisk field. In 2013, a new waste heat recovery unit was installed on Eldfisk 2/7 E for providing electricity to the platforms in the Eldfisk Complex.
The oil processed at Eldfisk 2/7 FTP is sent to the Ekofisk 2/4 J platform of the Ekofisk Centre where it is piped to the receiving terminal in Teesside. Most of the gas produced at the field is sent to the Eldfisk 2/7 E platform for drying and compression before being used as lift gas for wells. The rest of the produced gas is piped in the untreated form to the Ekofisk 2/4 J platform. The gas from the Ekofisk Centre is routed by pipeline to Emden.
Eldfisk II development details
The Eldfisk II development project received approval in 2011. It involved the construction of a new accommodation, wellhead and process platform named Eldfisk 2/7S, as well as modifications to the existing facilities. It also included the development of a new local equipment module, new pipelines and a new electrical and control cable.
A total of 30 new production wells, nine additional water injectors and one well for returning drill cuttings below ground were drilled from the newly installed platform. The Embla field is tied to the new integrated facility, by subsea rerouting of the existing pipeline between Embla and Eldfisk FTP. The project also involved the installation and tie-in of two Wye structures downstream of the Eldfisk 2/7B platform, connected with a new 24in oil export pipeline and a 30in gas export pipeline from the 2/7S riser.
The jacket for the Eldfisk 2/7S platform was installed with the help of Saipem’s S7000 heavy-lift vessel in May 2013. The 96m-high steel structure weighs 13,000t and was built at the Dragados shipyard in Cadiz, southwest Spain. The new platform’s 15,500t topside was constructed at Stord shipyard, Norway and was delivered in May 2014.
Maersk Innovator, a drilling rig, was used for drilling the field’s wells. The drilling activities at the field were completed in 2022. Additional wells are planned to be drilled in the future.
Contractors involved with the Eldfisk II development project
Aker Solutions, an integrated solutions provider for the energy industry, was awarded the front-end engineering design contract for Eldfisk II in 2008.
Aker Solutions was also awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth NOK5.5bn ($980m) for the topside of the new Eldfisk 2/7S platform in March 2011. The scope of the contract included the fabrication of two bridges, one bridge support module and a flare.
Aker Solutions won another contract worth NOK1.3bn ($217m) for modification works to the existing facilities of the Eldfisk field in March 2011.
Engineering and fabrication company Jotne E&P was subcontracted by Aker Solutions in November 2011 for the delivery of a pig launcher to the Eldfisk II modifications project.
EPC contractor Dragados was contracted to build the steel support jacket for the new facility.
Rosenberg WorleyParsons, an engineering, fabrication and construction company, was contracted to provide modification services for existing installations.
Subsea 7, a subsea engineering, construction and services company, received the contract for the tie-in and construction services including the installation and tie-in of the Wye structures, as well as the new oil and gas export pipelines and the subsea rerouting of the Embla Pipeline, as part of the Eldfisk II project in March 2011.
Aker Solutions provided offshore hook-up and commissioning assistance services as part of a NOK400m ($67m) contract confirmed in January 2013.
