To that extent, the Norwegian firm will keep the field on stream until its production ship, the Munin, is needed elsewhere in August.
According to Roald Riise, Statoil vice president for development and production in International Exploration & Production, “This technology, which wasn’t available when we first developed the field, allows us to tap new pockets of oil which would otherwise be beyond our reach.”
The company intends to start planning for three sidetracks immediately with drilling to begin in autumn. “While the ship is away, we intend to carry out sidetrack drilling,” explained Riise who expects output at the field to exceed 10,000 bpd.
Lufeng currently produces 6,000 bpd. More than 32 million barrels have been recovered from the field, where Statoil has a 75% interest. The balance is held by China’s CNOOC.
