Before the giant Johan Sverdrup field had produced even one barrel of oil, operator Equinor and its license partners set a recovery ambition of greater than 70% for the field. The complete paper discusses key elements driving this ambition. These include the field size and reservoir characteristics, early assessments and investments for improved oil recovery (IOR), data acquisition, reservoir monitoring, and digitalization.
Introduction
With a recoverable volume range of 2.2–3.2 billion BOE, Johan Sverdrup is a giant oil field approximately 150 km west of Stavanger, the third-largest oil field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The reservoir features hydrostatic pressure and undersaturated oil with a low gas/oil ratio (GOR). The first phase of the field came on stream in October 2019. A predrilling campaign included eight oil producers and 12 injectors.
The field is being developed in two phases. Phase 1 includes four bridge-linked platforms:
- Living quarters with utility-system functions
- Process platform
- Drilling platform
- Riser platform (RP) with tie-in of onshore power
Three injection templates are tied back to the RP. All platforms have jacket substructures.
