Vår Energi said it has awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract to Rosenberg Worley for the lifetime extension of the Jotun floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), enabling oil and gas production from the Balder field until 2045.

“Extending the life of the Jotun FPSO towards 2045 in the Balder Future Project is key in enabling Vår Energi’s future growth plan, ensuring Norway’s first offshore license, PL 001, a life span of 80 years,’’ said Kristin Kragseth, CEO in Vår Energi.

Rosenberg Worley will perform engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning as part of the FPSO life extension program and started planning activities in May this year. The planning phase is in coordination with the ongoing front-end engineering and design (FEED) work being performed by Aker Solutions, which started in December 2018. Aker Solutions will continue to provide engineering services during the execution phase.

The Jotun FPSO will be transported to the Rosenberg Worley yard in Stavanger in spring 2020 for an estimated 15-month yard stay. When the life extension scope of work is completed, the FPSO will be moved offshore for installation at the Balder field in PL 001 on the Utsira High in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

(Photo: Vår Energi)

Jan Narvestad, Managing Director at Rosenberg, said, the contract will secure high activity at Rosenberg the next few years, requiring an engineering and construction workforce of more than 1,500 at peak.

The redevelopment of the Vår Energi-operated North Sea fields Balder and Ringhorne entails other major project activities such as extending the life of the Balder FPSO to 2030; drilling of 15 new production wells in the Balder field area and 11 new production wells in the Ringhorne field area. These activities will take place while ordinary production continues at the Balder and Ringhorne fields.

Vår Energi has reserves and resources of more than 1 250 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe), targeting development of about 500 Mboe during the next five year period, the company said, adding, continued development of proven and additional mapped resources in the Balder and Ringhorne fields are key components of this growth plan. There is also potential to further increase the reserves in the area through an exploration program that is planned to start in 2020, it said.