Remote-operated from the Oseberg field centre, the new Oseberg H platform is the first unmanned platform on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The fully automatic, unmanned and remote-operated platform is digitalisation in practice, and I am proud of Equinor and its partners having chosen this in-house developed solution,” says Anders Opedal, Equinor’s executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling.
The project was delivered at NOK 6.5 billion (2018 NOK), more than 20% lower than the cost estimate of the plan for development and operation (PDO).
The breakeven price is reduced from USD 34 to below USD 20 per barrel, further strengthening a development that is already highly profitable.
The alternative to an unmanned wellhead platform would have been subsea wells.
The new concept provides a competitive alternative in developing smaller discoveries.
“Oseberg H is a pilot and our first unmanned platform. We are further developing the concept and believe that the next version will be even more competitive,” says Opedal.
The 11 wells on Oseberg Vestflanken 2 will be drilled by the Askepott jack-up rig owned by the Oseberg licence. Nine wells will be drilled through the Oseberg H platform and two through an existing subsea template. Pipelines and subsea equipment have also been installed.
