Fram

Fram Field, Norwegian North Sea

Location and Ownership

• The Fram oil and gas field is located in block 35/11 of production licence 090 (PL090) in the northern region of the Norwegian North Sea, approximately 20km north of the Troll field.
• The field is jointly owned by Equinor (45%), ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway (25%), Neptune Energy (15%), and Idemitsu Petroleum Norge (15%).

Geology and Reservoir

• The hydrocarbons are contained in turbidite sandstones and shallow marine sandstones of the Jurassic-age Draupner and Sognefjord formations, as well as the middle Jurassic-age Etive formation.
• The Fram reservoir is located at a depth of 2,300m-2,500m in various isolated, rotated fault blocks.

Development and Production

• The field was developed in two stages: Fram West and Fram East. Production from the Fram West field began in October 2003, and from the Fram East field in October 2006.
• Both fields were developed using two subsea templates, each comprising four wells, tied back to the Troll C platform.
• Gas extracted from the field is re-injected into the Fram West reservoir for pressure support, while water produced from the Troll C platform is used for pressure support at the Fram East field. Oil is sent to the Mongstad refinery via the Troll oil pipeline II, and gas is sent to the Troll A facility for processing before being transported to the Kollsnes terminal.

Extension Project

• In November 2017, the development partners announced a Nkr1bn ($122.6m) extension project to increase oil and gas production from the field. This project includes the installation of a new gas module at the Troll C platform and the drilling of three new wells, expected to increase reserves by 70% and extend the field's life until 2030.

Contractors and Drilling

• Equinor signed a master framework agreement with Odfjell Drilling for drilling services. Aibel was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation contract for the new gas module.
• Drilling works for the new wells were scheduled to commence in January 2019 using the Deepsea Atlantic semi-submersible drilling rig.

Fram Gas and Condensate Field, UK North Sea

Location and Ownership

• The Fram gas and condensate field is located in blocks 29/3c and 29/8a of production licence 012 (PL012) and blocks 29/4c and 29/9c of production licence 1664 (PL1664) in the central North Sea, UK, approximately 221km east of Aberdeen.
• The field is being developed by a joint venture between Shell UK (32% equity) and Esso Exploration and Production UK (68% equity).

Geology and Reservoir

• The field was discovered in 1969 by the 29/3-1 exploration well, which encountered an oil rim with a gas cap inside a Palaeocene age Forties reservoir in a four-way dip closure around a salt diapir structure.
• The field's complex structure and small volume of hydrocarbons initially made development unfeasible. However, further appraisal wells and 3D seismic surveys conducted between 2007 and 2009 revealed significant recoverable amounts of hydrocarbons.

Development and Production

• The final investment decision (FID) on the project was taken in June 2018, with the first production from the field occurring in 2020. The field is expected to have a life of approximately seven years.
• The development involved drilling two new horizontal wells (G3 and G5) using a semi-submersible drilling rig. Hydrocarbons are produced via a new 10in/16in surface-laid pipe-in-pipe production flowline to the existing Starling subsea manifold.

Production Capacity

• The field is estimated to hold around 390 million barrels of hydrocarbons in place. It is expected to produce about 41 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 5,300 barrels of condensate per day, totalling 12,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day at peak production.

Impact

• The development of the field increased the UK’s daily oil production by 2% and provided an alternative source for the UK North Sea’s declining oil and gas resources.