Aker BP said 3 September its operated Tyrving subsea tieback has sent first oil to the Alvheim floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the Central North Sea.
The subsea field, which was previously called Trell and Trine, holds recoverable resources of about 25 million BOE. It had been originally expected to achieve first production in 2025.
Trine was discovered in 1973 in production license 036E, while Trell was discovered about 5 km away in production license 102F in 2014. The reservoir contains oil in sandstone from the Paleocene in the Heimdal Formation.
Aker BP submitted the plan for development and operation (PDO) to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for the former Trell and Trine project in August 2022. At the time, the operator said the submission–which was one of three PDOs Aker BP submitted at the time–was a good example of how the temporary changes in the petroleum tax system adopted in June 2020 were helping generate activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The $700-million (NOK 6-billion) PDO called for producing the reservoirs with three wells and two new subsea manifolds tied back to existing infrastructure at East Kameleon and then to the Alvheim FPSO in about 120-m water depth. One of the three wells—the Trell Nord—was unproven but “had a high likelihood of discovery,” Aker BP said at the time. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approved the Tyrving development plan in June 2023.
Aker BP is draining the reservoirs with bilateral horizontal producers, with an extra branch off one of the laterals to increase the recovery rate at the discovery formerly known as Trell.
Field partner PGNiG Upstream Norway said in a 3 September press release Tyrving is expected to produce for about 15 years. At peak, production is expected at 20,000 BOED. PGNiG also said the project came in under the original budget.
Aker BP said Tyrving will operate with emissions estimated at 0.3 kg of CO2 per bbl.
The Tyrving subsea tieback is the latest one to deliver production to the Alvheim FPSO, where Aker BP’s ambition is to develop and produce a billion barrels by 2040.
When the Alvheim development was approved, the recoverable resources were estimated at just under 200 million bbl. With a final investment decision on Tyrving, the Alvheim area surpassed 750 million bbl either produced or sanctioned for development, according to Aker BP.
Aker BP operates Tyrving with 61.26% interest on behalf of partners Petoro with 26.84% and PGNiG Upstream Norway with 11.9%.
