Difficult balancing act

Difficult blncing ct Climte cure 2020: drstic emission cuts Solving Tordis lek seismic impct on fish JOURNAL FROM THE NORWEGIAN PETROLEUM DIRECTORATE NO 2-2009

2 3 In the limelight 4 7 11 14 16 20 28 29 30 32 34 37 38 CONTENTS No prizes for lck of boldness Gret regime but time for revision, sys rchitect A job to get ccepted Keeping it going The wy the wind is blowing Fcts on the tble All gthered in Setting boundries Curing the climte New routes to better recovery Fulty geology hlts project Rock shots Droplets 4 7 20 One of the issues for the NPD which hs ttrcted the most ttention in 2009 ws the gthering of seismic dt off Lofoten nd Vesterålen in northern Norwy. After three summers, we hve completed the job given us by the Storting (prliment) to survey the Nordlnd VII nd Troms II res for possible petroleum ssets. We re due to present n estimte of these resources next spring for inclusion in the revised integrted mngement pln for the Brents Se nd the wters off Lofoten. We lso commissioned the Norwegin Institute of Mrine Reserch to crry out n extensive reserch project while seismic surveying ws under wy this summer. Its purpose ws to study how fr fish re strtled by the shooting. This issue contins report from the fieldwork, but no results hve emerged yet. Another prominent issue this summer ws our filure to find worthy recipient for our improved oil recovery (IOR) prize in 2008. We regrd IOR efforts on producing fields s one of the petroleum industry s most importnt jobs. Norwegin oil output is in decline. Mny discoveries hve been mde, but they re smll. And no new res hve been opened for explortion since 1994. Our job t the NPD is to ensure tht the industry does wht it cn to recover everything worth producing. We re ment to be both driving force nd source of inspirtion. The question of crbon cpture nd storge (CCS) is current interntionl issue. One much-discussed solution for such continment is injection into the Utsir formtion, lrge sndstone quifer found under much of the North Se. Mny people were ccordingly concerned lst yer when produced wter injected into structure ner the Tordis field, thought to be the Utsir, ws found to be seeping out. After studying the sub-surfce in this re, one of our experienced geologists hs reched cler conclusion the lek did not come from the Utsir. More precisely, the produced wter ws never injected into this formtion, but into younger nd much less extensive sediments. Our specilists present these findings both in this issue nd on our website. Norwy cn this yer celebrte the 40th nniversry of the Ekofisk discovery nd the strt of wht hs been clled the Norwegin oil dventure. We hve tken dvntge of this occsion to present one of the most significnt personges in Norwy s petroleum sector. Frouk Al-Ksim ws involved right from the strt, before the NPD ws estblished, nd hd long creer s our resource mngement director. In tht role, he lid the bsis for our most prominent chrcteristic good mngement of the petroleum ssets on the NCS. i 34 Bente Nylnd director generl

4 5 No prizes for lck of boldness The NPD creted something of stir this spring when it sid tht its nnul wrd for improved oil recovery (IOR) would be withheld for second time. But it hopes to find worthy winner in 2009. Eldbjørg Vge Melberg Emile Asley (photos) The NPD s IOR prize is wrded to compnies, institutions or individuls who disply courge, willingness nd the bility to improve oil recovery beyond the leglly specified requirements. An extrordinry commitment is lwys expected from recipient of the IOR wrd, emphsises NPD principl engineer Rolf Wiborg, while cknowledging tht lot of good work is being done. This prize cclims n bility to tke project decisions over nd bove leglly specified requirements, he sys. Nobody wins n Olympic gold by stnd ing still on the strting line. Much ws done in 2008 on boosting recovery to keep output in line with pproved plns, Mr Wiborg notes. But the yer ws otherwise disppointing despite high oil price expecttions. A number of studies nd evlutions re being done, dds Kirsti Veggelnd, who sits on the prize jury. But little seems to be snctioned. The IOR prize is rewrd for bold decisions. She hs herself worked on issues relted to improved recovery for mny yers, both t the NPD nd t wht is now the Interntionl Reserch Institute of Stvnger (Iris). When it ws lernt tht the NPD would not be wrding n IOR prize for 2008, the Norwegin Oil Industry Assocition (OLF) told the ntionl press it found this decision incomprehensible. Others mintined tht it ws pproprite for the gency to highlight the bsence of decisions nd tht this ws problem for the petroleum industry. Mr Wiborg welcomes these rections, nd is sure tht the NPD will hve mny worthy cndidtes for the 2009 prize which ws lso the cse the lst time it refused to mke n wrd. Tht occurred in 2002, fter severl yers of low expecttions nd cutbcks in the industry. A series of bold decisions were tken the following yer which hve gretly boosted ernings. Johnnes Kjøde, director for fields nd discoveries t the NPD, underlines the significnce of showing courge. Phillips won the prize in 2000 for mintining IOR mesures on Ekofisk despite hrd times nd generl cutbcks in the industry. Tht ws bold move mde when oil prices were low, Mr Kjøde notes. Prices re now high, nd hve been even higher, but similrly courgeous decisions ren t being tken. He sees trend towrds oil compnies giving priority to short-term ction to boost output from dy to dy rther thn inititing mesures with longterm production perspective. Effect Mr Wiborg believes tht the NPD s decision to withhold the IOR prize for 2008 hs lredy hd positive effect, nd sees t lest couple of possible cndidtes for this yer s wrd. Those of us who keep close eye on work in the production licences see tht lot s hppening, he notes. Every yer, the NPD ssesses cndidtes nominted by outsiders nd identified through its work with the production licences nd its coopertion with reserch bodies nd the service nd supply industry. We hve observer sttus nd the right to spek in ll licence mngement committees. And we use it, sys Mr Wiborg. He dds tht the NPD ttends these meetings to monitor the compnies nd to push for inititives which boost field profitbility. At such meetings, he points out, the directorte nd the Ministry of Petroleum nd Energy (MPE) represent the biggest owners of Norwy s oil nd gs resources its txpyers. And the government bers the biggest risk through the Norwegin offshore tx regime nd s owner of 67 per cent of Sttoil nd 100 per cent of Petoro. The job of the licensees is to mnge ech field for which they re responsible More thn hlf the oil on the NCS will remin in the ground under current plns. The NPD tkes the view tht leving profitble ssets untpped or bndoning fields too erly represents poor resource mngement.

6 7 A single percentge point increse in oil production beyond tody s snctioned plns could yield re venues in the order of NOK 100-150 billion t tody s oil price. (Johnnes Kjøde, director for fields nd discoveries t the NPD) to mximises net profit. Civil servnts re present to ensure complince with the legl frmework. Refine Mr Kjøde is keen to refine the picture of the NPD s single-minded driving force for IOR. We re concerned with vlue cretion, not volumes, he em phsises. It s inccurte to sy tht our gol is to get out everything down to the lst drop of oil. We re concerned to ensure tht the compnies produce wht s profitble. As resource mnger, however, we cn t sit idly by nd wtch more thn hlf the oil being possibly left below ground if fields re bndoned in line with current plns. Vlue cretion could be huge for both compnies nd society if the industry mnges to recover lrger proportion of the resources, he points out. A single percentge point increse in oil production beyond tody s snctioned plns could yield revenues in the order of NOK 100-150 billion t tody s oil price. To illustrte his view, Mr Kjøde reclls the proud history of the NPD nd the MPE with regrd to the Ekofisk wter injection project in the North Se. The licensees needed djustments to the frme conditions in order to tke mjor nd risky decisions in 1984. Results hve been better thn nyone dred to hope. Oil recovery from the field hs more thn doubled, with further gins due over the next 30 yers. Ms Veggelnd believes there cn never be too much reserch nd technology development or too mny pilot projects, nd sees reluctnce to dopt new methods on the fields. Mjor re venue opportunities probbly still exist in this re. She lso emphsises the NPD s role in encourging petroleum industry coopertion beyond the individul field nd production licence. Historiclly, the NPD hs prticipted in mjor IOR reserch projects, such s the former progrmmes for IOR nd reservoir technology (Spor) nd reservoir utilistion through dvnced technology help (Ruth). Force It is now the secretrit for Force, prtnership between government nd oil compnies which seeks in prt to be prime mover for offshore pilot projects. Such full-scle testing clls for coopertion between the compnies cross fields nd licences. It ws Force working prty which proposed in 1997 tht the NPD should wrd n nnul IOR prize. Don t forget tht the compnies re obligted through the regultions nd their plns for development nd opertion to conduct reserch nd to collborte, sys Mr Wiborg. The prize ws ccordingly to be given for courge nd decisions, he notes, nd dds tht Norwy is the world s most fvourble country to pursue reserch becuse you nd I py for the bulk of it. The compnies cn deduct the cost from tx. Dred Norsk Hydro ws the first compny to win the IOR prize, becuse it hd dred to mke commitment to recovering the oil in the North Se Troll field. Mny people believed tht the ltter s oil-bering lyers were too thin for profitble recovery, but these resources eventully mde Troll Norwy s lrgest producer of crude for time. Troll Oil lso provides n exmple of good interction between government nd industry. Anlyst Econ hs concluded tht these resources re unlikely to hve been developed without ctive NPD involvement. Similrly, the mny hundreds of billions in dditionl kroner erned from Ekofisk would never hve mterilised without Frouk Al-Ksim, the NPD s first director for resource mngement, nd his mny ble collegues in the erly 1980s. i Gret regime but time for revision, sys rchitect

8 9 Wek points in the Norwegin model for governing oil opertions hve become more visible s the NCS mtures, sys Frouk Al-Ksim. A key plyer when this solution ws first creted, he believes the compnies must now be rewrded for tking higher risks. T Bjørn Rsen Emile Ashley (photos) he person who turns up to be photogrphed t the Norwegin Petroleum Museum in Stvnger is one of the grnd old men of the Norwegin oil industry, nd former NPD director of resource mngement. Mr Al-Ksim hs been more nonymous in recent yers, until his story ws presented in the Finncil Times this August. He is ctully well-conceled secret t the museum, too. No plce hs been found in its otherwise extensive exhibits for the mn who, t the ge of 32, wrote the first drft of the definitive 1972 White Pper which estblished the Norwegin model. But the museum uthorities, when questioned, sy tht historicl interview hs been conducted with Mr Al-Ksim to document his contribution to the business. The 37-yer-old White Pper formed the bsis for Norwy s oil regime, nd enshrined the principle of seprting commercil nd dministrtive functions. It lso lid the foundtions for the roles to be plyed in the industry by two new institutions stte oil compny Sttoil nd the NPD. In Mr Al-Ksim s view, the model creted bsis for coopertion between compnies nd government. Collbortion hs been my doctrine throughout. It s my fundmentl conviction. Functioned Fit-looking nd fully employed s consultnt, the 75-yer-old believes the regime functioned extremely well when the ntion ws heding for pek production bly ssisted by severl lrge oil nd gs discoveries. It s impressive in number of respects, Mr Al-Ksim reflects. But the model does hve its shortcomings, nd these re becoming more obvious s the NCS mtures. The problem is tht it doesn t give licensees sufficient incentive to produce smll, difficult or high-risk fields. There ll be more of these in future, nd the finncil return they offer might not be enough for the compnies. He lso notes tht the government hs cesed to tke stkes of more thn 50 per cent in ll production licences nd thereby corresponding shre of risk nd initil investment costs. The rules of the gme, the refinements in the division of offshore roles, nd finncil nd fiscl incentives re bsed on elephnts like Ekofisk, Sttfjord nd Troll, Mr Al-Ksim sys. Where production licences re concerned, the model functioned well in the elephnt er. We ve lso found mechnisms for voiding its weknesses the stte s need to be involved s n investor in order to boost its shre of revenues to 80 per cent. Higher risk must be rewrded, he mintins. And prcticl solutions hve to be found to bring up the remining resources which re techniclly nd finncilly recoverble. I ve come to the conclusion tht Norwy must modify its regime if it s going to recover the remining resource potentil, Mr Al-Ksim explins. Tht s not being bold. The finl phse is the most demnding everywhere in the world where oil exists. Typiclly, the big compnies ren t interested in smll fields becuse their cost is seen s excessive in reltion to revenues. Profits must be sufficient to ber the expenditure. The Norwegin model isn t necessrily the best solution for this phse. In his view, the question is whether it would be better to ptch up old trousers or go to the tilor for new pir prticulrly if you ve got thinner. Our trousers tody hve elephnt dimensions. They'd look lughble on rbbit. You could probbly modify them to fit, but it might be better to get new, properly tilored pir. He sees the chllenge posed by the fct tht Norwy still hs number of elephnts on strem, which could force the government to pply severl different legl, contrctul nd tx models. Norwy surprised itself nd the world over the mnner in which its resources hve been dministered, Mr Al-Ksim observes, nd points out tht the country ws initilly frid of the oil. Tht ttitude seems in mny respects to hve come full circle to judge by tody s Norwegin petroleum debte, in which oil hs incresingly become dirty word. Mr Al-Ksim feels tht the country s originl doubts, which questioned whether offshore resources were benefit or thret, proved beneficil. If Norwy hd done the sme s most other countries, nd plunged into the petroleum business t the mercy of powerful compnies, it would hve been hit by the oil curse. An immedite shock to the economy from the new industry ws voided. Contribution All this gve the young oil ntion something to build on, nd hs since mde the most importnt contribution to constructing the Norwegin welfre stte. Mr Al-Ksim highlights number of Norwegin chrcteristics which hve contributed to the ntionl success or, in his own words, mircle. The ntion ws self-confident fter the Second World Wr, he notes, with previling effervescent ntionlism, cn-do ttitude nd pride combined with sound common sense. In Mr Al-Ksim s view, politicl consensus previled tht the country hd to stick together nd t lest prevent outsiders from detecting disgreement during n election cmpign. I tried to persude the industry ministry to prepre for n oil ge, he reclls. The response ws relxed, long the lines of tht ws interesting we ll do it when the time comes. Hving experienced reltions be tween government nd oil compnies in my homelnd of Irq, my gretest concern ws tht Norwy would lose control to strong nd powerful industry. I ve nothing ginst oil compnies, but the ntion must be in chrge. Tht perspective developed from close observtion of the wy n intern- After Frouk Al-Ksim left the NPD in 1990, he hs plyed wht he clls n observer s role. But he hs not been short of work s consultnt. He wrote the drft of White Pper 113 in 1972, which lid the bsis for such pillrs of the Norwegin model s Sttoil nd the NPD. He subsequently penned drft Petroleum Act for oil gint Irq, 40 yers fter leving his homelnd.

10 11 But both Lbour nd non-socilist governments stuck to the sme policy. Tht s n unusul demonstrtion of ntionl strength over such long period. tionl consortium of severl oil mjors including Shell, Mobil nd Exxon hd exploited Irq. When I strted work in 1957, rich nd rrognt group of compnies exercised sole rights cross the entire country in return for roylty of bout five per cent, he reclls. I reflected over wht ws wrong with the reltionship between the government nd the compnies, The stte cn t do everything itself, but the compnies were used to getting their own wy. They didn t believe the opposition could put pressure on them. When the government dred to revoke the concession, the compnies recognised where the power ly. It ws lughble. He decided tht blnce hd to be struck which llowed compnies nd government to work together. They could by ll mens hve differing views, but must promise ech other to respect the rules of the gme. So the key issue is wht those rules should be. After getting job with Norwy s industry ministry, Mr Al-Ksim identified number of principles for seprting commercil nd dministrtive functions. The im ws to crete bsis for collbortion. These principles the foundtion for the Norwegin model were put on pper by the young Irqi s drft for the White Pper. The finl report ws nturlly n outcome of the ministry s further work, nd not something I did lone, he dds. He mde it cler in this document tht the government must own the resources nd secure the bulk of the profit, while the oil compnies were to obtin resonble return. They must ern enough to serve the ntion in proper wy. If their ernings re too low, the compnies would not give of their best. Dimensions Mr Al-Ksim s perspective remins unltered. Much hs chnged on the NCS, but he sys the sme three dimensions re still fundmentl controlling the pce of production, preventing the economy from running wild, nd ccepting tht ernings cnnot sty stble ll the time. Where the first dimension is concerned, he notes tht ntionl control would hve been lost if Norwy hd tried to move too fst. A moderte pce ment tht the plyers got to know ech other better, lernt long the wy nd grsped their economic impct. Former industry minister Finn Lied sid tht our policy ws to mke hste slowly, observes Mr Al-Ksim. Commercil interests were frustrted becuse things didn t move fst enough. They undoubtedly sw fntstic opportunity to expnd nd enrich themselves. But both Lbour nd nonsocilist governments stuck to the sme policy. Tht s n unusul demonstrtion of ntionl strength over such long period. Looking t the second dimension, he mintins tht Norwy hs voided the oil curse through its cutious policy. The economy ws protected from sudden shock. Opportunity At the sme time, the first 12 yers of the offshore ctivity provided Norwegin industry with n opportunity to get involved nd to lern from the foreign plyers. Not only ws the destruction of other industries voided, but the gol of 70 per cent domestic deliveries to the oil sector could be chieved. We enhnced the socil benefits of the oil nd creted sustinble industry, Mr Al-Ksim sys. Without these moves, Norwy wouldn t lter hve secured huge revenues from exporting technology nd oil services. On the third dimension, the young Irqi quickly lnded job in the Norwegin civil service. His first job in 1968 ws to evlute Cod, nd he concluded tht this North Se discovery will... hve unique significnce for future oil ctivities in Norwy. But he wrned his new collegues tht optimum recovery of oil resources would demnd proctive interply between government nd licensees. Revenue from the new industry would fluctute. And the fct tht the Norwegin government took big slice of the risk by providing more thn hlf the cpitl spent on mny developments up to the 1990s ws the key to success with improved recovery on the NCS. The compnies couldn t clim tht the uthorities weren t shouldering their shre of the burden. It is within this frmework tht he believes we hve succeeded in securing one of the lrgest oil fields on the NCS Troll for the ntion. The compnies were bsiclly redy to give up the oil in wht is otherwise huge gs field, Mr Al-Ksim notes. The NPD opposed the big plyers, who reversed their position. We hd to go to the petroleum ministry nd request n dditionl NOK 5 million to fund study of Troll. Secretry-generl Oluf Møller ccepted tht. The rest is history, nd Mr Al-Ksim believes tht Troll represents the gretest monument to the NPD s work. But the picture hs chnged s the NCS mtures. The compnies ber lrger shre of investment in number of licences, which is why Mr Al-Ksim wnts bigger rewrd for higher risk. Norwy s oil ge begn well, he sys. We ve mde number of djustments over time, of course. But things doesn t stnd still. Both the resource bse nd the globl energy picture hve chnged. So hve the environmentl consequences of the oil industry, nd populr ttitudes to this business. All tht presents us with chllenges. The key question is how we should dpt without destroying wht remins from the elephnt period - the big discoveries. i Frouk Abdul Aziz Al-Ksim left the Irqi oil industry, together with his Norwegin wife Solveig, in 1968 nd fter spell in London lnded job with Norwy s Ministry of Industry. He ws ppointed director of resource mngement t the NPD when it ws estblished in 1972 nd remined in tht post for 18 yers. His honours include the Oilmn of the Yer wrd from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in 1992 nd the Distinguished Service Awrd from the ONS oil show in 2006. He is the uthor of Mnging Petroleum Resources the Norwegin Model in Brod Perspective, which ppered in 2006. Red more of his story on the Finncil Times website t http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9968004-920-11deb63b-00144febdc0.html More bout the NPD s role in mnging the Norwegin oil model cn be found t www.npd.no/ en/about-us/. ENGINEERING AMBITIONS. Philip Alexnder Nordås (left), Espen Johnnesen nd Jons Lie Olsen re ll in the first btch of students on the subse technology course which begn three yers go. Astri Sivertsen (text nd photos) A job to get ccepted Newly-grduted Norwegin engineers re keen to find work in the oil industry. But lnding job cn be tough business. Norwy s petroleum sector ws fighting to secure new specilists up to lst utumn in order to replce ll the people reching retirement nd to crew the new rigs winning contrcts on the NCS. A number of the new compnies getting involved in the Norwegin offshore business lso needed personnel with expertise until the finncil crisis broke nd oil prices plummeted. Prts of the industry swung from recruitment to redundncies nd mny re sking whether this might once gin persude young people to shun the business s they did decde go. Around 2000, the petroleum sector hd cquired reputtion s sunset industry to which no sensible person would entrust their future creer. At bout the sme time, declining interest mong young people in studying science subjects ws identified s ntionl problem by Kristin Clemet, then Norwy s eduction nd reserch minister. The mood becme even more sombre when the OECD s Pis survey in 2003 showed tht the level of mths nd science skills mong 15-yer-old Norwegins ws flling. According to Thin Hgen, mnger for expertise t the Norwegin Oil Industry Assocition (OLF), the OECD countries in generl hve huge need for technology nd science specilists. In 2009, when the industry s sunset reputtion ws t its highest, the OLF ws sked by its member compnies to develop cmpign to recruit students to petroleum-relted courses. This hs been followed by n increse in the populrity of science t colleges of further eduction nd more pplictions for such studies t university level. Petroleum-relted subjects were the most over-subscribed courses t the University of Stvnger in 2006, Ms Hgen reports. She lso emphsises tht the drop in pplictions for science nd technology round 2000 did not hit voctionl disciplines such s drilling nd well technology. The slump ws seen t the higher eduction level. Despite the recent resurgence in sci-

12 13 MobilE The whole world s possible workplce, sys Helen Tverbk, who moved from Oslo to Strume becuse of the course on offer there. Subse s the future, sys Philip Alexnder Nordås, who lredy holds qulifictions in drilling nd well technology nd hs vried work experience including nursery school teching. You get more opportunities, more choice s n engineer, he sys. And this course gives you the chnce to help crete the future for the offshore industry. Of the four other students, one hs studied hotel mngement nd worked in the resturnt business, nother is rdiogrpher with experience from Bergen s Hukelnd Hospitl, the third hs worked t se nd in shop, nd the fourth comes directly from college of further eduction. Mny of the students on the Strume cmpus hve hd to repet science studies t further eduction level or tke preliminry course in mths nd physics before they could get in. I sk the five whether they re concerned bout the impct of the finncil crisis nd how they view their job prospects fter grdution. A couple sy they my tke the new MSc course in subse technology lunched by Bergen University College nd the Norwegin University of Science nd Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. The mjority re firly confident of finding work, but Nordås dmits tht newly qulified engineer he knows hs submitted 50 pplictions without success. After the lst downturn, nobody turned to the oil industry for job, he sys. Now it s reluctnt to tke on new grdutes, nd tht s very short-sight- PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. He s my mentor, sys Thoms Aleksnder Stigen (right) bout subse technicin Vidr Moe t Expro. Prcticl experience with this compny is n importnt prt of the engineering course. ence studies, however, the petroleum industry continues to fce chllenge in securing enough engineers nd prticulrly experienced personnel. But Ms Hgen sys tht this sector is the one with the smllest recruitment problem in Norwy. It still remins ttrctive to ll ctegories of job pplicnts. On the other hnd, demnd for specilists hs fllen from the levels seen in 2007-08 nd new ppointments hve been dropping since lst utumn. The industry is biding its time, Ms Hgen explins. It s lso tken on very lrge number of new people over the pst few yers. But she wrns the sector ginst becoming too cutious, s it tends to be when the trend turns negtive. We don t wnt repet of 2000, when recruitment cme to brupt hlt. The consequence of this knee-jerk rection ws tht the industry lost out on severl ge groups of young people who re now in their erly to mid 30s. Bck to school. Some of those lost recruits might be mong the students t Strume outside Bergen, where number of experienced drillers nd oil industry personnel hve gone bck to school. They wnt to improve their qulifictions, while some hve lso spent time in other industries nd possess different trde skills. It s gret being formwork crpenter when you re young nd fit, sys Thoms Aleksnder Stigen, who hs spent six yers in tht trde. And it s gret being n engineer when you re 50. He is one of 130 people studying to become specilist on subse technology, opertions nd mintennce through mix of theory nd work ex perience. His gol is n ttrctive job in the future. This BSc engineering course ws estblished t the inititive of locl industry, which includes numerous compnies working on the mintennce of subse equipment. Only 15 minutes by cr from the Cost Centre Bse t Ågotnes, the premises where the three-yer course is being held hve been lesed by Bergen University College from the AGR oil service firm. A totl of 500 students yer re ccepted on the college s engineering courses, mking this deprtment the biggest of its kind in Norwy, reports study coordintor Lil Linde Lossius. We hve long witing lists of potentil engineers. I get people virtully sobbing on the phone s they beg to get on our courses. Her biggest problem is tht the subse technology course hs dmitted 41 students this yer, but the eduction ministry will only fund 25 of these plces. We ve tken on more thn we hve finncing for, which mens we ve hd to plug the gp with sponsorship from locl bnk, Ms Lossius dmits. Lern mths Sitting in clssroom where secondyer students lern mths, Helene Tverbk comes stright from generl studies t Hrtvig Nissen s school in Oslo best known for teching dnce nd drm. She decided to become n engineer t n erly ge becuse of ll the job opportunities she believes tht such n eduction opens up. Norwy s world leder in subse technology, fter ll, so this course is very forwrd-looking, she sys enthusisticlly. I could well imgine becoming project engineer brod. The whole world s possible workplce, fter ll. Five third-yer students in the room next door re collborting on pper bout hydrulics. They will be the first to tke the finl exm in this subject next spring. Bucking the trend Sttoil hs tken different tck from other compnies in the oil industry, nd is recruiting s mny people s before despite uncertin times nd unpredictble oil prices. The group hs received 80 000 job pplictions since Sttoil nd Hydro Oil & Energy merged two yers go, reports Tone Rognstd, hed of recruitment nd promotion t the humn resources deprtment in Stvnger. Over the pst six months lone, 8 500 new grdutes hve pplied to Sttoil for work. Of these, more thn 200 re recruited nnully. The group restructured its trinee scheme this utumn nd renmed it grdute progrmme. This trining period runs for two-four yers nd gurntees prticipnts job on completion. Knowledge One of the differences is tht the new progrmme gives s much weight to specilist knowledge s it does to mngement, Ms Rognstd explins. The previous trinee scheme ws regrded s springbord into mngement, but our technicl disciplines hve now tken over much of the responsibility for the trining content. Acquiring solid professionl pltform is the top priority when you re newly qulified. And tht s prticulrly importnt for engineers. She hs seen tendency for some people to shun the oil industry when the lbour mrket is less heted. Sttoil wnts to void tht by recruiting s much nd s ctively s before. Plnning We hve such lengthy projects nd must pln our expertise requirements over such long time frme tht we cn t go in nd out of the student mrket every time the oil price rises or flls. In our view, we must stick where we re or risk finding ourselves once gin in position in which young people refuse to study engineering. To demonstrte just how seriously it tkes this issue, Sttoil recently lunched scheme intended to strengthen interest in science mong schoolchildren. The group hs joined forces with the City of Oslo eduction uthority (UDE) to recruit engineers s science techers in the cpitl s secondry schools nd further eduction colleges. Sttoil hs received 80 000 job pplictions over the pst two yers. (Photo: Guri Dhl/Sttoil) Dubbed Tech First Norwy, this inititive is bsed on progrmmes which Ms Rognstd sys hve functioned well in the UK nd the USA. It reflects the view tht the techer role is crucil in efforts to improve mths nd science skills mong children, nd tht lerning must begin erly in life. Running schools is mtter for the public sector in Norwy, so we won t be doing tht, sys Ms Rognstd. But we cn use our ttrctiveness to encourge science grdutes to strengthen recruitment to their own subject. i

14 15 Keeping it going A new well for wter lternting gs (WAG) injection on Ul lte this yer mrks further step in extending the life of this North Se field, which could yield big extr volumes of oil towrds 2040. Nick Terdre nd Bjørn Rsen WAG is lredy keeping Ul going for longer thn would be possible with wter injection lone. Before it ws introduced, the field s declining production curve pointed towrds shut-down in 2005. Through upgrding, the current drilling progrmme nd the injection of gs from Tmbr nd Blne s well s Ul itself, opertor BP could in the best cse mintin output towrds 2020. So fr, 45 per cent of the field s oil hs been produced. With gs from the Dong-operted Oselvr stellite, however, BP expects to boost recovery to minimum of 55 per cent. The forthcoming WAG injector will be followed by nother fter Oselvr hs been tied bck in 2012, sys Grete Block Vgle, who hs served s reservoir tem leder for Ul. Both these wells will be fitted with new type of completion technology, which helps to spred the wter nd gs more evenly through the reservoir. Ms Vgle, who becme hed of renewl for BP on the NCS from 1 October, notes tht this pproch hs lso trnsformed Ul s economics. BP hs thereby decided to go fter more difficult brrels in the Trissic reservoir bsement. Four dditionl wells re plnned in 2009-12 nd more could be drilled if these re successful. Tht would cll for new wellhed pltform. Ul could thereby sty on strem until round 2040, nd finl recovery could be s high s 65 per cent. Estimted reserves hve more thn trebled since the field cme on strem in October 1986. Pltform fcilities hve lso been upgrded, with gs hndling cpcity doubled to 3.4 million stndrd cubic metres per dy, wter injection cpcity up nd the drilling rig refurbished. Four wells BP introduced WAG on Ul in the yers 1997-2002 by converting four verticl wter injectors on the flnks for this technique nd recovering WAG oil through three producers on the crest of the reservoir. It hs tken time for the effect to be seen the first sign of incresed recovery cme in 1998, but it ws not until 2005 tht WAG oil begn to flow through ll three producers. A WAG injector drilled in 2006 yielded vluble dt from coring nd logging. No less thn 100 metres of cores were tken nd more 800 rock smples were nlysed in vrious lbortories. This work showed tht the technique hd effectively cut the proportion of immobile oil in prts of the reservoir from 35-50 per cent to 10 per cent. To drin the residul oil fully, however, more gs will be needed long with extr injection points in the form of long horizontl wells. Additionl gs hs been supplied by stellite tiebcks, first BP s own Tmbr development in 2001 nd then Tlismn s Blne which extends into the UK sector since 2007. The del to buy Oselvr gs could mrk the brekthrough for WAG on Ul. Due to come on strem in 2011-12, this field will send its whole wellstrem to the BP instlltions for processing. Too expensive Severl solutions were considered by BP for its Ul strtegy. These included the purchse of gs from the Sttpipe line, which psses nerby, but tht proved too expensive. When export solutions for Oselvr cme up for discussion, Dong nd BP reched greement tht this field could supply 75 per cent of the externl WAG gs to be used in Ul. We invited the Oselvr licensees to tlks nd hve hd good dilogue, she sys. A stnd-lone development would hve cost them too much. Finncilly, we ve now got win-win outcome. Dong is lso licensee on Ul, with 20 per cent stke. BP used to be licensee on Oselvr, which ws proven in 1991 by Elf, but the licence ws relinquished. Severl smller oil compnies subsequently took look t the field, but it ws Dong which ultimtely submitted pln for development nd opertion lst Mrch. This clls for three-well subse development tied bck by multiphseflow pipeline to Ul, which represents the best gs export solution in ny event. The lterntive for Dong would hve been to use Ul simply s hub nd sell the gs to the mrket. Oselvr s oil will be trnsported wy. Force Using Oselvr gs on Ul is n exmple of the commercil inter-licence collbortion promoted by Force, prtnership embrcing ll Norwy s lrge offshore compnies (see www. force.org). Ms Vgle emphsises tht the greement is commercilly bsed nd functions in this cse becuse both sides stnd to benefit. This wsn t time-criticl yet for Ul we could hve wited few more yers to find solution but Oselvr is unquestionbly timely, she concedes. In her view, incresed interlicence collbortion lso represents chllenge. Since Sttoil holds more thn 80 per cent of the portfolio on the NCS, much depends on tht compny. i Like lundry The chllenge on Ul is tht sticky crude becomes glued to the pores between the snd grins in the reservoir nd is thereby rendered immobile. Wter injection lone leves lrge quntities of such residul oil in the reservoir pores. But replcing it with gs loosens the crude s grip. Injecting wter gin then shoves both oil nd gs towrds the production wells. The WAG method is conducted in pulses, ech lsting bout six months. Mture field Ul lies in Norwy s southern North Se sector, ws proven in 1976 nd cme on strem in 1986. Its recoverble oil ws originlly estimted t 154 million brrels, lter upgrded to 546 million. In ddition come lmost four billion stndrd cubic metres of gs nd some nturl gs liquids (NGL). The present vision is to recover more thn 625 million brrels (100 million stndrd cubic metres) of oil. Illustrtion: Helge Steinnes nd Stig Håvrd Dirdl

16 17 THE WAY THE WIND IS BLOWING Norwy s output of primry energy sources consists minly of hydropower nd petroleum. Oil nd gs ccount for 90 per cent of the energy volume, ccording to Sttistics Norwy (SSB). Annul Norwegin hydropower output lies close to 120 TWh. Tht meets some 50 per cent of totl ntionl energy consumption, the SSB reports. Totl theoreticl hydropower genertion is estimted t 600 TWh by the Norwegin Wter Resources nd Energy Directorte (NVE), with the relistic potentil put t 205 TWh. Bjørn Rsen Emile Ashley (photo) According to the stte-owned Enov compny, Norwy s offshore wind power potentil is 14 000 TWh. But Sintef nd the Norwegin University of Science nd Technology (NTNU) sy the relistic nnul figure in 20-25 yers from now is 25 TWh. The ltter figure corresponds to energy consumption by instlltions on the NCS. Scientists believe it could qudruple to 100 TWh by 2050, the yer Norwy is officilly due to be crbon neutrl. Wind power developments re flourishing s never before, nd most of ll in Chin. The USA still leds the wy in this re, with Spin nd Germny close on its heels. Moves re lso being mde with offshore wind power. The UK is plnning to instll enough fixed wind turbines on its continentl shelf by 2020 to mtch Norwy s hydropower cpcity. Although wind hs so fr mde modest contribution to Norwegin electricity output, the country hs Europe s best resources of this energy berer on its continentl shelf. Some plyers hve vision of building lrge floting wind frms t se for lrge-scle power exports s n extension of the ntionl oil nd gs dventure. At the other end of the supply chin, the Europen Union envisges tht offshore wind power will meet 17 per cent of its members electricity needs by 2030. The Europen Wind Energy Assocition (EWEA) expects more thn 550 terwtt-hours to come from this source in the sme yer, with lnd-bsed nd offshore frms meeting 30 per cent of EU demnd. Europe is set to invest NOK 1 200 billion in wind power between 2021 nd 2030 lone, the ssocition estimtes. Almost NOK 550 billion could lso be invested in 2011-20. Economic considertions hve so fr cted s brke on wind power development in Norwy, not lest offshore. The world s first full-scle floting wind turbine hs now become opertionl in Norwegin wters dmittedly s pilot project. NO CHEAP OPTION

18 19 NO CHEAP OPTION Offshore wind power is not economiclly vible t lest for the moment. NAILING DOWN THE ANSWERS A number of technicl hindrnces lie stride the rod leding from the world s first full-scle floting wind turbine to lrge wind frms fr out to se. How do you get nil to stnd upright on the open se? This question is posed in the ltest issue of Gemini, mgzine from Norwy s Sintef reserch institute in Trondheim. It is intended to illustrtes the problems ssocited with instlling floting wind turbines some distnce from lnd in tough conditions of wind, wve nd slt spry. These chllenges nd the wy such units re to be mintined hve been studied by tem from Sintef nd the Norwegin University of Science nd Technology (NTNU). The nil in this cse is pounded by wves s it bobs up nd down, nd crries hed weighing severl hundred tonnes with propeller ttched which rottes nd swings in the wind. Questions the scientists wnt to find good nswers to include how they cn prevent the technology rusting wy under the impct of the slt wter, which gets in everywhere. Weight One solution being studied by Chpdrive, which hs developed system for hydrulic power trnsmission in wind turbines, involves hlving the weight of the ncelle housing the mchinery. The technologicl hurdles fcing future floting turbines re different from those for the wind power units plced in shllow wter closer to the cost. These re bsiclly lnd turbines instlled in the se, nd hve been designed for dry conditions rther thn the slt spry of turbulent se. The Sintef/NTNU scientists lso point to the chllenge of stbilising turbine mounted on floter. Gusts of wind striking the rotors out t se crete much wer nd ter. Another unclrified issue is how the turbine tower will behve when wind nd current pull in different directions. Nor hve ny of the questions relted to ctul instlltion in stormy ses been resolved. Expensive Once turbine is in plce, people must be ble to bord it for mintennce nd repir. A helideck like those found on petroleum pltforms could be too expensive. But ccess vi ship lso poses cler chllenges nd mens greter shre of plnned mintennce must be done in wether windows. Tht in turn demnds creful monitoring from lnd. Using stellite trnsmission for remote dignosis is mentioned s possible solution, but would require the development of technology for building robust nd stble turbines. Lst but not lest, getting the power to shore requires the construction of costeffective infrstructure for the trnsmission cbles. The Sintef/NTNU tem emphsis the need to see the NCS s whole. Tht clls for coordintion with possible electricity deliveries to petroleum instlltions nd new cbles to Norwy, the UK or continentl Europe. A completely new grid of the type involved here could tke severl decdes Photo: Øyvind Hgen, Sttoil to build. And ntionl effort would be required for Norwy to become mjor exporter of offshore wind power. Tht includes the development of licensing system nd the production of zoning plns for wind frms. Hywind Sttoil s Hywind project, the world s first full-scle floting wind turbine, represents first cutious step in tht direction. This pilot project becme opertionl north-west of Stvnger in September in order to test the impct of wind nd wve forces on the structure. Hywind combines known wind power nd petroleum technologies, nd the long-term im is to instll turbines further out to se where the wind potentil will be much greter thn ner the cost. In longer perspective, Sttoil is hoping to reduce costs so tht floting wind power cn be competitive in the energy mrket. This structure comprises steel cylinder filled with bllst, which hs drft of 100 metres nd is ttched to the sebed by three mooring lines. The tower extends 80 metres bove the se. Sttoil is investing bout NOK 400 million in Hywind, which will deliver power through trnsmission cble to locl grid opertor. The project hs received roughly NOK 60 million in support from Enov, the stte-owned Norwegin compny chrged with promoting greter use of renewble energy. i Hrnessing one megwtt of wind power is currently twice s expensive on the NCS s in lnd-bsed development. The Lyse study (see box) puts the cost of offshore wind power t NOK 38-64 million per MW. Tht compres with n estimted NOK 14 million on lnd. Generlly speking, it would cost bout 30-35 million per MW to develop offshore wind power on the NCS compred with lnd-bsed price of NOK 15 million. Lyse s clcultions lso indicte tht offshore costs will be three times those on lnd when the necessry investment in pltform modifictions is included. It s not economic to develop offshore wind power tody, sys Mette Kristine Knestrøm, mnger for this ctivity t Lyse Produksjon. We ll need subsidies to get strted in Norwy, but developments should become vible in the longer term. She dds tht the finncil chllenge hs incresed in recent yers becuse costs in generl hve risen by 20-30 per cent. The Norwegin government wnts NCS instlltions to get more of their power from shore or offshore wind frms. Most of them obtin their electricity tody from diesel or gs turbines. Lyse hs bsed its study on 11 fixed wind turbines locted in 70 metres of wter close to the Ul, Gyd nd Ekofisk MAKING HASTE SLOWLY Things tke time, sys Lyse chief executive Eimund Nygrd, nd does not believe tht offshore wind power will be vilble on lrge scle until fter 2020. He drws comprisons with the petroleum industry when describing the process leding up to wind frms which relly provide genuine lterntive to other energy berers. There re severl common fetures. Just deciding to instll trnsmission cble tkes severl yers. Building nd instlling turbines nd grid ren t done just like tht for billion kroner or two. This is n extremely cpitl-intensive process, nd not job which compny like Lyse could tke on by itself. As when gs is discovered, Mr Nygrd points out, mrket must exist before development tkes plce. He envisges The fesibility of instlling wind turbines on prts of the NCS to cut greenhouse gs emissions nd their cost hs been studied by power utility Lyse for the NPD. This work forms prt of the Climte Cure 2020 report, which includes discussion of new or mended policy instruments in Norwegin climte policy. Prticulr ttention is pid to mesures which cn help to meet the gol of reducing nnul emissions by 15-17 million tonnes up to 2020. Red more (in Norwegin only) t www.klimkur2020.no. fields. This cse envisges the use of five- MW wind turbines to supplement gs-fired power generted directly on the instlltions. Five MW is the relistic level with tody s technology, explins Ms Knestrøm. Instlling more powerful units would boost the cost per MW. Winds in this re hve n verge speed of 10.7 metres per second nd blow firly constntly. The turbines would stnd still only few dys of the yer. Lyse believes tht its 11 proposed units could relisticlly supply the three fields mentioned bove with 40-45 per cent of their power needs. The utility estimtes tht the nnul climte benefit would be cut of 120 000 tonnes in the 490 000 tonnes of crbon owner constelltions similr to those found in the petroleum industry which could develop wind power for lrge-scle export. Norwy currently hs excess cpcity for electricity genertion nd could be left with the power unless it hs n interntionl mrket for such deliveries. This must be done on lrge scle, nd tht clls for politicl willingness, sys Mr Nygrd. The politicins must ct. We ve got more thn enough plns. Stte-owned Sttnett, which is currently plnning the next-genertion centrl grid for Norwy, hs lso clled for ssurnces bout wind power commitment. Auke Lont, the compny s chief executive, recently submitted proposls for new grid development which sys tht NOK 20-45 billion needs to be spent on this work over the next decde. i dioxide emitted tody by the gs turbines on Ul, Gyd nd Ekofisk. Developing one MW without hving to put in cble to lnd is expected to cost NOK 49 million, including necessry modifictions on the instlltions. Put nother wy, it would cost NOK 2.5 billion to reduce crbon emissions from these three fields by 25 per cent. Lyse hs lso looked t solution where gs turbines on the instlltions re removed. Tht could be chieved with 30-unit wind frm nd cble from lnd to supply power in clm periods. In this cse, the price tg would be NOK 64 million per MW when developed nd n overll cpitl expenditure of lmost NOK 10 billion. A finl exmple involves 175 wind turbines nd cbles to send surplus electricity to lnd. Tht cuts the price per MW to NOK 38 million, but the investment would be more thn NOK 33 billion. The most relistic option for getting strted is to instll isolted generting units on the NCS without trnsmission cbles to lnd, concludes Ms Knestrøm. Possible links between lnd nd turbines must be dimensioned for lter expnsion. And if we re going to mke big commitment offshore, we should lso think of export cbles to other countries. i

20 21 Fcts on the tble Astri Sivertsen Alf Oxem (photos) The Norwegin Institute of Mrine Reserch (IMR) used six vessels in the Norwegin Se this summer to seek nswers to key question re fish strtled by seismic surveys, nd for how long. We joined one of the bots involved. SCIENCE AT SEA. Technicin Tor Ivr Hllnd mesures hlibut, Tom Steffensen (bck to cmer) bleeds them nd skipper Mikl Steffensen pulls more bord Klotind.

22 23 The Klotind fishing bot sets sil from Stø in north Norwy s Vesterålen islnds erly one July morning. Its ssignment to determine how seismic shooting might ffect ctches. Skipper Mikl Steffensen knows exctly where the Greenlnd hlibut re to be found long Storegg, the steep RETURNING HOME. Skipper Mikl Steffensen is strongly opposed to oil opertions off Vesterålen. They wnt to mess with the very crdle of the fish, he sys. outer edge of the NCS. Home to lrge concentrtions of fish, this prt of the Atlntic mrgin lies in t centre of survey work to identify possible hydrocrbons in the Nordlnd VII re. Seismic survey ship Geo Pcific cn clerly be seen on the electronic chrt in the wheelhouse of the 50-foot utoliner, which hs been hired by the IMR for project finnced by the NPD. Involving five fishing bots nd reserch ship, this progrmme hs imed to chrt how fr seismic shooting drives wy the fish. The bots ccordingly fished both before nd during the survey period, nd until ctches returned to norml. Geo Pcific strted work on 29 June, nd hs nother 16 dys to go when we rrive on the scene. On the wy out to the grounds, flock of puffins flies cross the bows nd the bcks of two minke whles emerge close to shol of herring whipping up the se few metres from us. Gulls form living wke behind our stern. Terje Hermnsen strts to py out the long line couple of hours fter the voyge strts, connecting up the 18 tubs of redy-bited line stcked on deck. The full 10-kilometre line crries 5 500 hooks, ech bited with bit of herring. To tke it to the bottom where the hlibut live, sinker is ttched between every other tub. These re cobblestones weighing 3.8 kilogrms ech. Fishing is rich long Storegg, where the wter depth drops bruptly from 100-200 metres to roughly 900 metres. Hlibut, ling nd cusk re prticulrly plentiful. Skippers fmilir with these wters hve no need of sonr. They know by experience where to fish, nd Klotind sets its line s usul t depth of 360-370 fthoms lmost 700 metres down. This job hs been completed by 10.00, nd the bot returns to the line s strting point for three-nd--hlfhour wit. The crew np in their bunks or enjoy the sun on deck. Only Cpt Steffensen remins in the SHOOTING THE LINE. Skipper Mikl Steffensen hs prepred 18 tubs of bited line, totlling 5 500 hooks. CLEANING HALIBUT. Tom Steffensen bleeds fish before sending it to the hold. wheelhouse, surrounded by instruments nd computer monitors echo sounder, electronic chrt, rdr, VHF rdio nd seprte emergency line directly to the joint rescue coordintion centre in Bodø. Chrt The electronic chrt shows tht Geo Pcific nd its two support bots re five nuticl miles wy. It erlier fired its ir guns only 0.6 nuticl miles from our present position. Cpt Steffensen hs spoken dily with the fishery expert on the survey ship by VHF since dt gthering begn, except for tody. Their converstions lrgely involve estblishing the loction of Geo Pcific nd whether ny delys hve occurred. The survey ship tkes 10 hours to sil north but 13 hours on its southwrd leg becuse it is then running counter to the Gulf Strem. It lso needs three hours to turn round. Fishing bots re required to respect the sfety zone round Geo Pcific, which extends for four nuticl miles stern nd two from its bows. I tke dvntge of the wit to sk Cpt Steffensen who is 29 yers old nd hs been fishing since he ws 18 how locls view the prospect of possible oil production in these wters. Opposition to oil is even greter now thn it ws before, he replies, nd sys tht the mjority re ginst in both Øksnes nd Andøy. Support The locl uthorities where support is strongest re Bø nd Hdsel the first becuse jobs could reverse shrp popultion decline, nd the other becuse it hs little ner-shore fishing. They ve mostly got ocen-going trwlers,, the skipper notes, nd dds tht he is personlly strong opponent of oil opertions on this prt of the NCS. Tht is becuse the wters off Lofoten nd Vesterålen contin the world s most prolific fishing grounds nd host incredible numbers of fish including cod, herring, hddock, sithe, hlibut, ling nd redfish. Cpt Steffensen believes it would be much too risky to chnce these vluble resources. Fr too little is known bout the potentil hzrds of oil ctivity. They wnt to mess with the very

24 25 crdle of the fish, he sys. But nobody cn sy wht ll become of lrve nd eggs which drift pst, or wht might hppen to herring stocks, for instnce. A member of the locl executive for the Norwegin Fishermen s Assocition, he mintins tht fishing on this prt of the NCS is very different from ctivity in the North Se. They use big se-going vessels down south which cn move. But we re tied to one spot, while processing plnts nd shops on lnd rely on our deliveries. The whole community depends on fishing. Prepred Cpt Steffensen hs been nevertheless prepred to prticipte in the NPDfunded reserch project, both becuse knowledge is importnt nd becuse it is interesting work. He lso mintins tht seismic shooting lst yer drove wy the sithe nd hddock, which did not repper until November. These fisheries normlly yield very good ctches from August. Cpt Steffensen sys the uthorities only pid out for lost ctches in the five dys fter shooting ended, which they justified by pointing to the IMR s North Cpe Bnk tril in 1996. This reveled decline in cod nd hddock ctches s result of seismic surveying, but ws terminted five dys fter shooting cesed. So it hs been importnt for Cpt Steffensen nd the other fishermen to document how long it tkes for the fish to return if they do. The skipper puts the cost of n outing including bit, biting nd fuel t NOK 10 000. In ddition comes repyments nd insurnce for the bot, which he bought in My for NOK 4 million. He normlly mkes three trips out week, nd is dependent on regulr income throughout the yer in order to sty on the right side finncilly. Four months without ernings lst yer were ccordingly hevy burden. It ws lso difficult winter, with problems delivering fish becuse the processors could not sell it on. Europens were strpped for csh becuse of the finncil crisis, while Icelnd nd Russi dumped chep cod on the mrket. Averge lnding prices for this species hve dropped from NOK 27 per kilogrm to NOK 15 over the pst yer. The only reson the fishermen consented to the NPD s plns for shooting seismic this yer ws tht more thn 100 bots were bought off, sys Cpt Steffensen. If we d wnted to, we could hve stopped them. They ve forged hed just s they liked. But when they strt turning up on our beches nd potto fields, we hve to growl little. Recovering Klotind is bck t its strting point, nd the crew begin to hul in the line t 13.30 strting with hlf-n-hour of recovering the rope end, nchors nd flots. The fulmrs flp their wings nd position themselves round us, while crew, skipper nd Tor Ivr Hllnd, the IMR technicin, tke their plces on deck. At 14.00, Cpt Steffensen gffs the first hlibut over the gunwle nd into the tub longside Mr Hllnd, who puts it on his mesuring bord to determine its species nd size. Pressing on the bord t the point where the fish til ends clls forth beep which sounds just like the brcode reder t shop till, nd indictes tht the dt hve been stored. Mr Hermnsen nd Tom Steffensen the skipper s fther, who is scheduled to tke commnd when his son goes on holidy tomorrow bleed nd gut the fish before heving them down plstic chute to the hold. The whole opertion lsts only few seconds, but is repeted time nd gin during the five-nd--hlf hours it tkes to retrieve the whole line. Every single fish is registered, but skte nd roughhed grendiers re thrown bck into the se. Nobody wnts to buy them, but the gulls greedily snp up ny food they cn get. Swp The crew swp between jobs, nd Cpt Steffensen tkes over the mesuring bord when Mr Hllnd needs brek. Two technicins re normlly bord to relieve ech other, but there is only one per vessel this week. Eighteen tubs of long line re not much, Mr Hllnd sys. Klotind normlly sets 27 of them, but hs cut bck on this occsion since only one IMR person is bord. This hs been n esy dy, he observes. But if it s blowing nything more thn breeze, stnding there with the bord cn be hell. The length of fish provides n indiction of ge, nd its weight cn lso be clculted when the lnding docket is filled out t the reception sttion. Stomch contents re smpled from time to time to see wht the fish re feeding on nd to determine whether they re just pssing through. With field work running from 15 June to 31 August, the project hs lso used the IMR s Håkon Mosby reserch ship to crry out number of dditionl mesurements. These focus not only on the commercil species but lso on the plnkton nd krill which provide food for fish nd other mrine fun. Klotind completes its work t 19.30. Mr Hllnd nd the skipper gree tht the ctch is better thn the dy before, but the size of this improvement cn first be determined when the technicin trnsfers his dt to lptop PC in the wheelhouse. On the wy bck to Stø, Cpt Steffensen rdios whler Uregutt from Vestvågøy. His counterprt complins tht the whles he hs seen tht dy were too smll to be worth shooting t. Whling remins firly importnt for the Vesterålen economy, embrcing not only those who ctch nd et these mrine mmmls but lso the tourist who py well to look t them. Visitors Ninety visitors were tken out from Stø yesterdy, for instnce, nd such whle sfris hve become big business both in Øksnes locl uthority nd in Andøy. Mr Hllnd hs finlly clculted totl of 1 536 fish or 70 kilogrms per tub. As he suspected, this is little better thn the dy before. Cpt Steffensen helps him to fill out the log, with time nd position entered nd checked. ONCE A FISHERMEN S CABIN. Tody reserch sttion t Stø in Øksnes locl uthority. SCIENTISTS AT WORK. Ror Skeide (left) nd Are Slthug from the Norwegin Institute of Mrine Reserch study dt gthered during the summer s expeditions. SUMMER S NIGHT AT STØ. The Klotind fishing bot hs docked to deliver the dy s ctch.

26 27 On the wy bck to port, we run into the thick fog we hve seen lying long the cost since the morning. I sk Cpt Steffensen whether he often went fishing with his fther when he ws little, but he sys sesickness put him off. He dmits tht finding his se legs remins problem, prticulrly in the winter when he cnnot see the horizon. We return to discussing oil production. Why strt tking out the oil now? sks Mr Steffensen senior. We ve got enough money. Why not in 10-20 yers from now? He fers tht the seismic surveying is only the strt. They ve got hold of one finger now. Next time they ll tke the whole hnd. Berth We berth just before 23.00 in the light north Norwegin night, which is firly grey just now. The fog mkes it cold enough to leve the fish in the hold until the reception sttion opens. Cpt Steffensen climbs into the sttion s crne nd hoists the tubs shore, where young Finns set to work clening the line nd biting the hooks for the next trip out. The mrine biologists hve their bse little further south in the hrbour, with 22 of them tking shifts in red-pinted house for s long s the fieldwork lsts. MULTITASKING. Skipper Mikl Steffensen tkes turn with the mesuring bord. They rest up between trips in this rorbu the nme given to most of the lodgings in the re. Their centrl computer is firly ordinry lptop on the dining tble in the lounge. Four scientists re resident in Stø this week, but only expedition leder Are Slthug nd Ror Skeide hve returned from the fishing when I knock on the door in the lte fternoon. Curves They explin their work nd show me chrts nd grphs on the lptop. Curves detiling ctches for ech fishing bot re ttched to the cupbord doors in the djoining kitchen. Mr Slthug nd Mr Skeide explin tht this project ims to estblish how long it tkes before the fishing returns to norml level. Also looking t how fr wy from the survey re the effect on the fish cn be detected, the study is sid to be the first of its kind in the world. It s essentil tht we ccompny the ctive fishing bots, Mr Slthug explins. Their crew know gret del nd hve mny interesting observtions bout conditions in the se. Mr Skeide explins tht the fishermen communicte lot with the fishery experts on the seismic survey ships. They must tke ccount of the sfety zone, nd delys cn occur long the wy. The long-liners re more flexible, nd hve their ger out for shorter periods, while those fishing with nets tke two-three dys t time nd hve greter problems dpting to the survey ships. The two scientists provide some bckground on the vrious species, noting tht the cod fishery ws very good lst winter nd tht stocks of hddock nd sithe re helthy nd sustinble. Redfish hs been hevily exploited, probbly becuse much of the fry were cught by prwn trwlers in the 1980s, but stocks re recovering. The hlibut fishery is strictly regulted, with low quots, nd Klotind would hve been unble to fish t this period were it not for the project. Hlibut re so vluble tht it s prticulrly interesting to see whether they re strtled, becuse the conse- quences for the fishermen re so gret, sys Mr Slthug. To ensure the best possible reserch dt, the fishing must be conducted under strict rules. Ech bot fishes in exctly the sme plce throughout the period, nd with the sme ger. The bit must lso be identicl, so pllet-lod hs been purchsed for Stø to be used throughout the durtion of the project. Mr Slthug sys tht the reserch is being conducted under very relistic conditions nd will hve high level of ecologicl vlidity. It is lso highly specific nd, in his view, very eductionl for the scientists. i While Klotind ctches its fish in the nme of reserch, seismic survey ship Geo Pcific sils on indeftigbly few nuticl miles further out to se. No other fishing bots re to be seen on this July dy. The extensive rry of stremers spred out stern give Geo Pcific the look of big ocen-going trwler s it ploughs through the wves in light mist. Being towed t speed of roughly three knots, these eight cbles re 100 metres prt nd more thn five kilometres long. They crry the hydrophones which pick up seismic echoes from the sub-surfce. These signls will be processed nd interpreted during the utumn nd winter to help nswer the key question might Scry reserch The reserch project on how much fish re scred by seismic shooting is being conducted in the northern prt of the survey re on the NCS, off northern Norwy s Vesterålen islnds. It ims to lern more bout how much nd over wht distnce the irguns strtle fish, nd how long it tkes for fishing to return to norml once surveying hs ended. With budget of NOK 25 million, oil nd gs be present off Vesterålen? Or, for tht mtter, off Lofoten to the south nd Troms county further north, which re lso covered by the three-yer survey progrmme. Viewed from the deck of rescue bot Knut Hoem, the seismic shooting looks peceful enough. The noise of the irguns is inudible bove the wves, even when they re only couple of hundred metres wy. The defening silence of the se is broken only by the sound of the bot s engine. How much the shots ffect the fish, on the other hnd, is probbly question which the reserch by Klotind nd the other vessels in the project cn help to nswer. (Bjørn Rsen nd Bjørn Erik Rygg Lunde, photo) Listening out for nswers this work is being conducted by the Norwegin Institute of Mrine Reserch (IMR) in Bergen on behlf of the NPD. A reference group which includes fishermen s representtives nd locl politicins hs contributed suggestions on the design of the project. Five locl fishing bots were hired, nd begn test fishing on 17 June five dys before seismic shooting strted in these wters. They continued throughout the survey period nd until ctches hd returned to norml levels. The IMR s Håkon Mosby reserch ship hs lso prticipted in the project, nd is due to submit its results some time next spring. To ensure tht its seismic survey could be conducted, the NPD lso greed to py round 120 fishermen in the relevnt res to bstin from fishing when they might get in the wy. i All gthered in

28 29 All gthered in WORLD WIDE. The Commission on the Limits of the Continentl Shelf (CLCS) is bsed in New York. (Photo: Rune Go) Eldbjørg Vge Melberg The NPD completed its three-yer seismic survey progrmme off northern Norwy this summer, nd will use the dt secured to identify possible petroleum resources in these wters. Covering the Nordlnd VII re off Lofoten/Vesterålen nd Troms II north-west of Andøy nd Senj, this work hs been commissioned by the Storting (prliment). Costing totl of NOK 410 million, the surveys im to strengthen knowledge bout opportunities for finding petroleum in these prts of the Norwegin Se. The decision to lunch the progrmme ws tken when the Storting debted the integrted mngement pln for the mrine environment in the Brents Se nd off Lofoten in 2006. Its geologicl results will form prt of the input for renewed prlimentry considertion of this pln, which is scheduled for next yer. Survey This summer s survey lsted for just under six weeks nd ws extremely successful, reports Sissel Eriksen, director for explortion t the NPD. Dt gthered over the pst three yers will underpin technicl ssessment of petroleum potentil in the two res for submission to the Ministry of Petroleum nd Energy next spring. Both methods nd sites for the surveys were plnned on the bsis of geologicl complexity nd nticipted prospectivity, while their timing ws tilored to input from the fishing sector. It ws importnt to ensure tht the size of the res surveyed provided flexibility in reltion to fishing, Ms Eriksen explins. We ccordingly nnounced wider re thn we could expect to cover with seismic shooting. Lrge prts of northern Norwy enjoyed fntstic summer this yer, which benefited the survey work. It ws only interrupted once by bd wether. With fishing ctivity lso limited, the NPD could shoot continuously over lrge res 1 258 squre kilometres in Nordlnd VII nd 805 in Troms II. Tht ws in line with its plns. Vessels This seson s surveys were conducted by Geo Pcific off Vesterålen nd Ocen Explorer north-west of Senj. Ech ship hd two fishery experts on bord to mintin good dilogue with fishermen in the re. The NPD chose to offer compenstion scheme this yer to ctive fishermen in the two res. A totl of 124 vessels greed not to fish when tht interfered with the surveys. However, it remined fully possible to fish within the dvertised res throughout the period s long s tht did not get in the wy of the work. Ms Eriksen is plesed tht so mny fishermen opted for the NPD scheme, nd she emphsised tht these dels were very importnt for the success of the surveys. Compenstion embrced fishing with nets, long-line, hnd lines nd Dnish seines, nd ws clculted on the bsis of historicl ctches in the re over the pst four yers. Devised in consulttion with the fishermen, the scheme cost bout NOK 12 million. i Norwy s offshore crege beyond its northern shores ws extended in April by n extr 235 000 squre kilometres, n expnsion in which Hrld Brekke plyed key role. Astri Sivertsen Setting boundries The NPD geologist works on behlf of costl sttes round the world to estblish how fr out their continentl shelves extend, nd thereby where they cn control sebed resources. Equivlent in size to the UK, the increse in re mens the northern NCS now covers some two million squre kilometres. The new boundries were set by the Commission on the Limits of the Continentl Shelf (CLCS), which is bsed t the UN in New York. Sttes All costl sttes hove the right, under the UN Convention on the Lw of the Se, to zone extending 200 nuticl miles from lnd. But mny possess continentl shelf which extends even further out. In order to clim wider boundries, Geologist Hrld Brekke. they must be ble to document the sebed geology so tht the CLCS cn determine how much of n re the country cn legitimtely control. Mr Brekke ws elected in 2007 to his third five-yer term s one of the 21 members on this body. Costl sttes worldwide hve turned to him for dvice nd ssistnce when they wnt the outer boundries of their continentl shelves pproved. They include Muritius, the Seychelles, Sri Lnk, Bngldesh, Keny, Tnzni, Somli, Mozmbique, Mdgscr, South Afric, Muritni, Senegl, Cpe Verde, Gmbi, Guine, Guine Bissu, Togo nd Benin. The question is one of resources, Mr Brekke explins. Without defined boundries, nobody knows where country s rights begin nd end. They cn t get nyone to invest unless these re cler. But this is not bout petroleum, he dds. Mny of the res concerned lie in deep wter beyond the scope of such ctivity. The primry motivtion is to secure possible unknown resources. We ve no ide wht kind of ssets might lie in these res for the future, nd this is n unknown world in reserch terms, sys Mr Brekke. We simply don t know wht ll be vluble. The boundries re drwn from the point where the byssl plin meets the continentl slope, nd their loction is often mtter of interprettion. Clims must ccordingly be underpinned by geologicl nd geophysicl dt, which form the bsis for recommendtion to the CLCS. Its decision is finl. Rtify When country rtifies the lw of the se convention, it hs 10 yers to submit boundry clim. Sixty hve lredy done so, nd more re expected in the next few yers. They include Mdgscr, with 2011 dedline, Cnd in 2013 nd Denmrk with Greenlnd the yer fter. When the convention cme into force in 1994, only 60 sttes hd rtified it. Tht figure hs now risen to 158. This trety is significnt for Norwy, so it s importnt to get the lrgest possible number of countries to pply it, sys Mr Brekke. The stronger its stnding, the better for us. i

30 31 We re currently in the most demnding phse. The tem is discussing mesures nd tools, nd ll the gencies must support our conclusions. Curing the climte Identifying wys nd mens to meet the Norwegin government s gol for rdicl cuts in greenhouse gs emissions is Bente Jrndsen s job s member of the inter-gency Climte Cure 2020 tem. Bente Bergøy Miljeteig Arne Bjørøen (photo) OOur job is to deliver the fctul bsis for ssessing number of possible mesures to chieve these reductions, explins the NPD principl engineer. But she refuses to sy wht might be the right or intelligent course to tke. We re creting menu the politicins cn pick nd choose from, without imposing ny guidnce. In her view, the officil im of cutting emissions by 15-17 million tonnes of crbon equivlent is mbitious. It equls the nnul mount relesed by more thn six million crs. The report from Climte Cure 2020 will form the bsis for the government s policy ssessments in this re, which re due to be submitted to the Storting (prliment) next yer. Ledership of the tem hs been ssigned by the Ministry of the Environment to the Norwegin Pollution Control Authority (SFT). Other gencies represented re Sttistics Norwy, the Norwegin Public Rods Administrtion nd the Norwegin Wter Resources nd Energy Directorte (NVE). Bcked by dditionl plyers nd specilists s necessry, ech gency hs prepred sectorl reports which re now being summrised nd integrted into the finl presenttion. We re currently in the most demnding phse, explins Ms Jrndsen. The tem is discussing mesures nd tools, nd ll the gencies must support our conclusions. She dds tht this is busy time, with lots of meetings t the SFT in Oslo, by phone nd in-house. Eight to 10 members of the NPD stff re working on the climte cure. The NPD hs specil responsibility for identifying possible mesures in the petroleum sector, their impct nd their cost. Attention is concentrted on reducing crbon emissions. Oil nd gs ccount for more thn 30 per cent of the totl crbon dioxide relesed by Norwy. But cuts by this sector lone my not necessrily be the best pproch in socio-economic terms. The cost will be highest in this industry, Ms Jrndsen points out. It s lso chllenge tht mny mture fields on the NCS re energy-intensive nd thereby hve higher emissions. In its work on Climte Cure 2020, the NPD hs lso been looking t mesures nd costs for crbon cpture nd storge (CCS) s well s for trnsporting crbon dioxide. The ltter reltes to such loctions s Kårstø ner Stvnger, Mongstd north of Bergen nd Hmmerfest LNG t Melkøy in northern Norwy. Other ction under considertion includes integrting power supplies between number of offshore fields to cut genertion nd thereby reduce crbon emissions. Using wind turbines to supply NCS production instlltions with electricity nd the trnsmission of power from shore will lso be ssessed. It s importnt for us to estblish the fcts nd identify the positive nd negtive consequences of different instruments, Ms Jrndsen explins. Hving studied biology nd chemistry t the University of Oslo, she hs worked on climte nd environmentl issues throughout her creer. But tht ws quite ccidentl, she sys. I lso spent yer t the Norwegin School of Sport Sciences nd still enjoy being ctive. She cycles, skis, nd likes being out-of-doors. She strted with Norsk Hydro, testing the Grenlnd Fjord south of Oslo for dioxins nd tking blood smples from mgnesium workers to check levels of hexchlorobenzene, crcinogen. After decde in tht job, she spent further 10 yers with the Norwegin Oil Industry Assocition (OLF) before joining the NPD in 2007. I m enjoying myself here very much, she sys. I like working with fcts in flt nd multidisciplinry orgnistion. It s incredibly eductionl. Ms Jrndsen is very concerned tht decisions on politicl policies should be bsed on fcts rther thn emotions, nd points out tht environmentl studies re science. You don t hve to be n idelist to work in this field. I m certinly not, t ny rte. After work on the climte cure hs been completed, she is due to begin nother demnding project for the NPD updting the mngement pln for the Brents Se nd the wters off Lofoten. i DEMANDING. Bente Jrndsen wnts to get the fcts nd identify positive nd negtive impcts. (Photo: Emile Ashley) The finl report from Climte Cure 2020 will cover three points Assessing nticipted emission prices in 2012, 2015 nd 2020. Reviewing interntionl gols nd instruments in Norwegin climte policy, prticulrly with reference to Europen developments nd their likely impct on Norwy s tools. Assessing the need for new or mended tools in Norwegin climte policy. Prticulr weight will be given to instruments which help to meet the gol of trimming 15-17 million tonnes from nnul emissions by 2020. At the sme time, tools re sought which cn provide efficient nd cost-effective emission mngement in the longer term. (Source: www.klimkur2020.no)

32 33 New routes to better recovery Unconventionl techniques known s mnged-pressure drilling (MPD) nd underblnced drilling (UBD) re key tools for squeezing more oil nd gs out of depleted reservoirs one of the NPD s top priorities. Nick Terdre MPD could be the most significnt contributor to improved oil recovery (IOR) from existing fields, sys Odd Tjelt, chief engineer for field developments t the NPD. It s impossible to put numbers on the extr volumes we could get out, but the benefit is potentilly very gret. Collegues t the Petroleum Sfety Authority Norwy (PSA) gree. Depletion is incresing ll over the NCS everyone will get to the point where they hve to figure out new wy of drilling, sys principl engineer Monic Ovesen. Mybe these re the tools. In September, the NPD nd PSA joined forces in presenting their messge to the industry during the Norwegin Petroleum Society s drilling nd well technology conference t Kristinsnd in southern Norwy. We wnt to focus ttention on the incresing chllenges to do with depletion, sys Ms Ovesen. Mr Tjelt dds, We wnt oil compnies to ssess whether these techniques hve vlue for them. Into the frme As depletion dvnces, conventionl drilling in most reservoirs becomes ever less effective becuse it dmges the reservoir formtion. This is when MPD nd, t lter stge, UBD come into the frme by mking it possible to continue drilling production nd injection wells. In conventionl or overblnced drilling, the pressure creted by the weight of the mud circulting in the borehole is significntly greter thn it is in the reservoir. Tht prevents hydrocrbons from entering the well during the drilling phse. But pplying this method in depleted reservoir mens tht the pressurised mud is pushed out of the borehole into the surrounding formtion, leding to lost circultion nd mking further drilling difficult or impossible. MPD involves drilling with just slight mud overpressure. Unlike the conventionl pproch, the mud is contined in closed system with its pressure controlled by choke t the top of the well. Additionl equipment hs to be instlled on the pltform to do this. In depleted reservoir, the pressure is lible to vry unpredictbly from zone to zone, Ms Ovesen notes. So it is importnt to be ble to djust or mnge pressure in the borehole. Creful regultion ensures on the one hnd tht the formtion is not dmged nd on the other tht no hydrocrbons enter the well. UBD is pplied when the formtion hs become too unstble for MPD. By underblncing pressure in the well, the risk of dmging the formtion is minimised t the cost of llowing hydrocrbons to enter the well. They circulte with the mud nd must be seprted from it when they come to the surfce. Chllenges Both MPD nd UBD hve been extensively used round the world, nd hve proved their worth for IOR. But pplying these pproches on pltforms in the North Se involves dditionl chllenges. Accommodting the extr equipment nd piping is difficult nd expensive on pltforms with little spre spce nd often limited cpcity to tke the extr weight. Personnel lso need specil trining, since these techniques differ considerbly from the conventionl drilling methods they re used to. The big Norwegin fields developed in the erlier yers re lredy t n dvnced stge of depletion. High pressure nd temperture fields such s Kvitebjørn nd Kristin re lso depleting t rpid rte, sys Mr Tjelt. Although cost nd sfety represent big chllenges, Ms Ovesen mintins tht neither is show-stopper for MPD nd UBD. She sys the PSA believes sfety cn be stisfctorily mnged. In some wys, MPD is sfer thn conventionl drilling becuse the closed system gives better control over the pressure in the well, she points out. Hndling hydrocrbons t the surfce while drilling underblnced is n issue with crucil sfety implictions, but Ms Ovesen is confident tht efficient solutions cn be developed. Plnning She lso believes tht cost-effective mens of deploying these techniques re best found by incorporting them into compny s long-term plnning. In her view, doing this when considering n upgrde to extend n instlltion s working life could substntilly reduce the cost of dopting MPD nd UBD. Tking the requirements for these techniques into considertion when plnning new developments could sve the compnies from lrge bills in the future, since modifictions re expensive. To get the most out of MPD nd UBD, Mr Tjelt suggests they should be implemented through the integrted opertion (IO) pproch, with rel-time dt trnsfer between lnd nd offshore, nd between opertor nd service compnies. I believe MPD opertions represent n re where IO relly shows its worth, he sys. i Leding the wy Only one opertor on the NCS hs ccumulted significnt experience with MPD Sttoil. We see the need to hve MPD in our toolbox, both for older fields nd in high pressure nd temperture (HPHT) fields where depletion occurs rpidly, sys Uno Rognlie, the group s vice president for drilling technology. We ve strted work on mpping which fields will need it nd surveying wht the pltform requirements re going to be. Sttoil's Technology & New Energy business re, where Mr Rognlie is employed, works with ll the ssets involved in MPD projects. A dedicted group is led by Inger Kjellevoll, the leding dvisor on this technique. Severl MPD wells drilled from Gullfks C nd on Kvitebjørn hve mde significnt contribution to IOR. Three were drilled very successfully on Kvitebjørn using the world s most highly utomted MPD system, sys Ms Kjellevoll. Now Sttoil is prepring to extend MPD to the other Gullfks pltforms nd to Oseberg C, nd evluting its use on the Snorre, Sttfjord nd Njord fields. BIG POTENTIAL. Mnged-pressure drilling could mke n importnt contribution to improved recovery from existing fields, ccording to the NPD nd the PSA. (Photo: Hrld Pettersen, Sttoil) Over the next couple of yers, it lso plns to drill couple of MPD wells on the Kristin HPHT field from mobile rig. This involves number of issues not fced on fixed pltforms, sys Ms Kjellevoll, prticulrly heve motion. Similr chllenges pply on Njord, which is floting production pltform with drilling cpbility. A project is under wy to qulify the necessry technology. UBD is on the gend s future requirement. When we see need for it, we'll prepre for it, sys Mr Rognlie. i

34 35 Fulty geology hlts project Pleontologist Tor Eidvin nd geologist Jon Arne Øverlnd, NPD 2 00 2 20 2 40 2 4 34/1 34/2 34/3 61 45 61 45 Fig 1: This detiled illustrtion shows the size of the sebed crter ner Tordis. The scle is in metres. (Source: Sttoil) SYGNA STATFJORD NORD VIGDIS TORDIS SNORRE GIMLE GULLFAKS 34 35 36 Måløy Florø 34/4 7 61 30 61 30 34/4 34/5 34/6 stone deposit 1 000 metres beneth the sebed. But injection ws hlted in the erly hours of 31 My 2008 fter it proved to be the lek source. Roughly 1 100 brrels of oil hd lredy escped by then so wht went wrong? Sttoil hd thought the injected wter would be held in the Utsir formtion, which it ssumed ws present s lrge structure with big storge cpcity. Extending beneth much of the North Se, this sub-surfce feture ws deposited from 12.5 to 4.5 million yers go s porous nd permeble qurtzrich snd. Sttoil uses it on Sleipner Est 300 kilometres further south to store inject- STAT- FJORD STATFJORD ØST 34/7 2 34/8 9S 34/7 R 1 H 34/7 12 61 15 61 15 2 00 34/4 6 34/7 1 34/8 1 34/7 34/8 34/9 34/10 34/11 34/12 2 20 34/8 3A VISUND 34/8 A 1 H Fig 2: Loction of the investigted wells 34/7-2, 34/7-R-1 H nd 34/7-12 in the Tordis re (red symbols). The 34/4-6, 34/4-7 nd 34/7-1 wells on Snorre nd the 34/8-3A, 34/8-1, 34/8-A-1 H nd 34/8-9S wells on Visund (blck nd open symbols) hve been checked erlier by the NPD. 2 40 34/4-6 34/2-4 34/4-7 34/7-1 34/8-1 34/8-3 A 34/8-A-1 H 34/7-R-1 H 34/7-12 34/7-2 34/8-9 S 35/11-1 35/3-1 Fig 4 36/1-2 Måløy 61 61 Florø 2 4 Fig 3. Approximte extent of the Utsir formtion on the Snorre, Visund nd Tordis fields in the Tmpen re of the North Se. It consists lrgely of light qurtz snd in the res shown in light nd drk yellow, nd of drk green gluconitic snd in the re mrked in yellow with green strs. Investigted wells re indicted by red symbols in the Tordis re nd by blck symbols on Snorre nd Visund. Red rrows depict the direction in which sediment hs been trnsported. The blue line shows the loction of seismic profile presented in fig 4. Strtigrphic studies by the NPD in the wke of n oil lek on Tordis hve shown tht the Utsir formtion is not present where n injection well ws drilled for this North Se field. An oil slick ws reported close to Tordis on 14 My lst yer. Studies of the sebed identified lrge crter close to the field s underwter instlltions on 30 My. Mesuring 30-40 metres cross in the longitudinl direction nd bout seven metres deep (fig 1), this ws found to be the source of n escpe of oily wter. Tordis lies between the Snorre nd Gullfks fields in the Tmpen re (fig 2), nd ws proven nd developed by the former Sg Petroleum compny. Sttoil is currently opertor for the oil field, which hs been developed with severl subse instlltions tied bck to the Gullfks C pltform. Oil production begn from Tordis in 1994, but hs been declining for number of yers. The wter cut is lso rising, with the produced wter piped to nd seprted out on Gullfks C. As one of severl mesures to boost output from the field, its licensees resolved in 2005 to instll fcility for sebed seprtion there. This equipment would lso hve positive environmentl impct by shrply reducing dischrges of produced wter. Built by FMC Technologies, it represented world first. Adopting sebed seprtion on Tordis ws regrded s technologicl innovtion which could be highly significnt for future subse developments. In opertion from erly 2008, the seprtor removed wter nd snd from the wellstrem for injection into snd- ed crbon dioxide. But NPD hs found tht the formtion does not exist where the Tordis injector ws drilled. This result is consistent with the conclusions of n erlier study by the directorte 10 yers go on Snorre nd Visund, which lie north nd north-est of Tordis (fig 3). Tht work showed the Utsir is lso Two-wys trveltime (ms) 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 W Snorre Field 34/7-1 UTSIRA FORMATION GLAUCONITIC SAND Visund Field 34/8-3 A N O R D L A N D G R O U P (Glcil deposits) HORDALAND GROUP H O R D A L A N D G R O U P Unconformity SEAFLOOR Fig 4: Est-west seismic profile through the Tmpen re, showing the thickness of the Utsir formtion on the Snorre nd Visund fields. The loction of the profile is shown in fig 3. poorly developed in other words, only bout 20-60 metres thick over these res (fig 4). It found tht well reports nd interpreted logs from the oil compnies plced the Utsir roughly 100 metres too high, in strt deposited less thn bout 2.75 million yers go. Access to both sidewll nd conven- Northern Viking Grben - 61 N tionl drill cores ws very helpful, nd mde it possible to dte the Utsir in wells on Snorre nd on Visund s west flnk to bout five million yers. Sttoil lso hd sidewll cores from two of the three wells investigted in the Tordis re. Anlyses show tht the Utsir is not present in the two wells on the ctul field. UTSIRA FORMATION SAND Unconformity 35/11-1 0 10 20 25 km E

36 37 N m 1100 1200 1300 1350 SNORRE FIELD 34/4-6 34/7-1 Lithostrtigrphigrphic Lithostrti- units units NORDLAND GROUP UTSIRA FORMA- TION HORDALAND GROUP Sr A (M) 5.7 26.3 m 1110 1120 NORD- LAND GROUP Sr A (M) 1160 UTSIRA FORMATION HORDA- LAND GROUP 1200 26.1 KEY About 2.7-2.4 million yers old About 5 million yers old About 23-18 million yers old About 29-26 million yers old M = Meg nnum (million yers old) Sr A = Strontium isotope ges from fossil tests m = Depth in metres below the rig floor 1000 1100 1200 1300 1340 In this re, sediments from the Nordlnd group lid down 2.75-2.4 million yers go lie immeditely bove mterils in the Hordlnd group deposited some 26 million yers in the pst. The well immeditely north of the field hs encountered the Utsir, in lyer bout 10 metres thick. This is identicl with the formtion on Snorre nd Visund s west flnk, nd is lso dted to bout five million yers. In ddition to the informtion provided by fossil fun, cler evidence is provided in one of the Tordis wells tht the Utsir is not present. A sidewll core tken close to the bottom of the unit nd interpreted by Sttoil s the Utsir includes shrpedged piece of qurtzite mesuring 1.8 by one centimetres (fig 5). This derives from the minlnd, nd cn only hve been crried so fr out onto the continentl shelf by glcition. But studies of scientific cores from the Norwegin Se shows tht the ice ges only begn bout 2.75 million yers go in northern Europe. Borehole reports nd interpreted logs from Sg nd Sttoil for the three wells in the Tordis re interpreted the lowest 80-100 metres of these glcil deposits s the Utsir. As explined bove, this is not correct nd corresponds to exctly the sme erroneous interprettion mde in the Snorre nd Visund wells. While the inccurtely interpreted units do contin number of snd lyers, the fossil fun show they were deposited in much deeper wter thn the Utsir. Resulting from subse mud nd snd currents, such turbidite deposits do not usully hve wide regionl distribution nd often result in reltively poor reservoir qulity. When oily wter injection begn on Tordis, only reltively limited volume ws probbly stored in these snds before the pressure rise cused frcturing of the overlying shles. The frctures eventully reched the surfce, llowing the injected wter to escpe. A similr lekge ws reported on Visund in 2007. Heping of sediments observed on the sebed beneth the pltform seemed to be ssocited with n injection well for drill cuttings. Questions hve been rised in the wke of the Tordis incident, prticulrly by environmentl orgnistions, bout the security of storing crbon dioxide in the Utsir. This formtion hs good reservoir properties in mny res nd ppers to be overlin by cp rocks, lthough detiled geologicl surveys re the only wy to ssure tht these provide sel. However, the Tordis lek cnnot be used s generl rgument ginst storge in the Utsir since this structure is not ctully present in the re. A more detiled rticle nd the report from the NPD s strtigrphic study of the Tordis field cn be found t www.npd.no. i NORDLAND GROUP UTSIRA FORMA- TION H O R D A L A N D G R O U P 1000 1070 NORDLAND GROUP UTSIRA FM HORDA- LAND GROUP 1065 Fig 5: Shrp-edged qurtzite stone found in sidewll core close to the bse of the unit interpreted by Sttoil s the Utsir formtion. This piece of rock hils from the minlnd nd must hve been crried to the Tordis re during the ice ge long fter the Utsir ws deposited. VISUND FIELD TORDIS FIELD 34/8-1 34/7-2 34/7-R-1 H 34/7-12 Lithostrtigrphigrphigrphigrphic Lithostrti- Lithostrti- Lithostrti- m units Sr A m units Sr A m units m units 950 (M) 920 (M) 990 920 1000 5.0 28.6 28.2 4.7 + 4.2 NORD- LAND GROUP HORDA- LAND GROUP Fig 6: Correltion of lithostrtigrphic units between wells 34/4-6 nd 34/7-1 (Snorre), 34/8-1 (Visund), 34/7-2 nd 34/7-R-1 H (Tordis) nd 34/7-12 (Tordis re) in the Tmpen re. This shows tht the Utsir formtion becomes much thinner in southwrd direction from Snorre (34/4-6, 34/7-1) nd Visund (34/8-1) towrds the Tordis re (34/7-2), nd is completely bsent on Tordis itself (34/7-R-1 H, 34/7-12). 1000 1060 NORDLAND GROUP HORDA- LAND GROUP S ROCK SHOTS Decomposed gneiss Deep dissolution is distinctive form of the longterm chemicl decomposition which ffects ll rocks on the Erth s surfce. It occurs in tropicl climtes with high tempertures nd humidity, where rock is converted to thick lyers of grvel nd snd plus vrious cly minerls. This soil lyer cn be up to 100 metres thick, nd my penetrte to depths of 200 metres long frctures nd fults. Even hrd gneiss must yield to these climtic conditions. But finding deep dissolution t Hmrøy in Norwy s northern Nordlnd county is more unexpected. The gneiss is so decomposed tht it cn be esily dug out, even though its originl structures re still visible. These deposits could be residues of soil cover from the time when Norwy ly significntly closer to the equtor, or it my be tht rocks re more exposed to dissolution in the Norwegin climte thn hs been ssumed. Deep dissolution could crete possible reservoir formtions on the continentl shelf, since bedrock exposed to this process hs been found to contin hydrocrbons in number of plces. Terje Solbkk nd Jørund Strømsøe (photo). More imges t www.stromsoe.no.

38 39 Droplets Shred hunt for CO 2 storge The Norwegin nd British uthorities re working together to identify suitble formtions under the North Se in which crbon dioxide cn be stored. We re updting nd qulity-ssuring dt from our prt of the North Se, while our opposite numbers in the British Geologicl Survey (BGS) work to mp the UK sector, sys Ev Hllnd (below). A geologist with the Norwegin Petroleum Directorte (NPD) nd project mnger for the work on the NCS, she dds: The intention is to obtin n overview of suitble storge sites. The One North Se project will estimte the size of existing storge loctions s well s the potentil requirement. It is lso looking into demnd for storing crbon dioxide from Europe nd when this need might rise. Another spect of the project is to estblish wht industry nd government cn do to estblish good frmework nd n infrstructure for crbon trnsport. Severl loctions in minlnd Europe could store crbon dioxide below ground, but mny re scepticl bout the sfety of these sites, explins Ms Hllnd. Tht s why we re looking t the North Se. She nd her collegues re hunting for formtions where crbon storge will not conflict with oil nd gs production. Such sites must obviously lso hve the right chrcteristics to ensure tht the injected gs stys in plce. Crbon dioxide hs been stored under the sebed off the Norwegin cost for number of yers. Opertor Sttoil hs injected it into the Utsir formtion in the Sleipner re of the North Se since the mid-1990s, while crbon dioxide extrcted from Snøhvit gs is stored beneth the Brents Se. Crbon cpture nd storge (CCS) is in huge demnd, Ms Hllnd comments. Norwy possesses good expertise in this re, which is big dvntge in the mpping project we re now pursuing. Plns cll for report to be submitted in Jnury s prt of the input for developing n interntionl strtegy on CCS. Redying for remote opertion The Norwegin government is to initite the process of opening the wters round Jn Myen in the Arctic Ocen for petroleum ctivity, with view to wrding production licences. This decision is bsed on White Pper 37 (2008-2009) on integrted mngement of the mrine environment in the Norwegin Se (known s the mngement pln). The first step in the opening process round the remote Norwegin islnd is to estblish the re s petroleum potentil nd environmentl ssets in greter detil. Tht includes n impct ssessment of oil nd gs ctivity, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Petroleum nd Energy. The NPD hs role in identifying the resource bse. Tody s dt mke it impossible to sy nything bout the oil nd gs potentil of the continentl shelf round Jn Myen, explins Sissel Eriksen, explortion director t the NPD. More informtion is ccordingly needed to improve knowledge of the re. Seismic surveys nd shllow drilling re conventionl methods in this respect. We lredy hve good del of seismic dt, but the lines re much too fr prt, sys Ms Eriksen. We lso hve some shllow drilling, but the wells ren t optimlly plced. Tht s not lest consequence of the indequte seismic informtion, so we need more input from both sources. Icelnd nnounced its first offshore licensing round this spring, including blocks on the Icelndic sector of the Jn Myen Ridge (known s the Dreki re). Awrds were plnned for the utumn, but none were mde becuse only two pplictions hd been submitted nd these were both withdrwn. Antrctic clrifiction sought Norwy submitted clim to the CLCS in My for the continentl shelf boundries relted to its Bouvet Islnd nd Dronning Mud Lnd dependencies in the fr south. According to NPD senior geologist Morten Snd, the sebed off Dronning Mud Lnd on the Antrctic continent hs been mpped with the id of seismic nd ocenogrphic surveys. The seismic dt were gthered through scientific collbortion between the NPD, the University of Bergen nd Russin institutions. Ocenogrphic mesurements were crried out together with the Norwegin Polr Institute nd the Norwegin Institute of Mrine Reserch. However, Norwy hs sked to CLCS to ignore the documenttion relting to these se res since they fll within the scope of the Antrctic trety. But it wnts the outer boundry of Bouvet Islnd s continentl shelf to be determined becuse this territory does not form prt of the continentl lnd mss. The Norwegin clim is bsed on interntionlly vilble wterdepth dt. According to Mr Snd, seismic informtion is of little relevnce since sedimenttion round the islnd is smll. www.npd.no Site for sore eyes A revmped version of the NPD s website ws unveiled t www.npd.no on 31 August, eight yers since its lst upgrde. The new solution offers better serches nd esier ccess to mps nd fcts. The NPD possesses gret del of informtion in wide demnd, nd hs now mde it vilble in more understndble wy. Help is provided for number of the functions. This updte ppers to hve found fvour with users, nd hits rose by 25 per cent immeditely fter the lunch. The figure hs now stbilised t roughly 1 500 unique users per weekdy. Anyone who previously subscribed to news stories from the NPD must now re-register. The informtion cn lso be obtined s n RSS feed. Volume 6-2 Responsible publisher: Norwegin Petroleum Directorte P O Box 600 NO-4003 Stvnger Norwy Telephone: +47 51 87 60 00 Telefx: +47 51 55 15 71 E-mil: postboks@npd.no Editoril tem: Bjørn Rsen, editor Bente Bergøy Miljeteig, journlist Eldbjørg Vge Melberg, communictions dvisor Rolf Wiborg, senior economist Terje Solbkk, geologist Rolf E Gooderhm - English editor Production: Arne Bjørøen - grphic production Printer: Ki Hnsen, Stvnger Pper: Arctic Volume 200/130 g Print run Norwegin: 7 000 Print run English: 2 000 Lyout/design: Jnne N Ji Subscriptions: norsksokkel@npd.no Free of chrge Next issue: December 2009 Norwegin Continentl Shelf on the web: www.npd.no Front cover: Identifying wys nd mens to meet the Norwegin government s gol for rdicl cuts in greenhouse gs emissions is Bente Jrndsen s job s member of the intergency Climte Cure 2020 tem. (Photo: Emile Ashley)