Morvin

Morvin Field Profile

Location and Geography

The Morvin oil and gas field is located approximately 200 kilometers offshore in the Norwegian North Sea, within the Halten Bank area. It is part of production licence 134b.

Ownership and Operation

The Morvin field is owned by several companies:

• Equinor Energy AS (formerly Statoil) holds a 64% stake and operates the field.
• ENI holds a 30% stake.
• Total holds a 6% stake.

The ownership structure was influenced by the merger of Hydro with Statoil, which increased Statoil's stake from 50% to 64%.

Discovery and Appraisal

The Morvin field was discovered in 2001 by Statoil when an exploration well found light crude. An appraisal well (6506-11 / 8) was drilled in March 2006 using the West Alpha rig, and drilling was completed by June 2006. This appraisal confirmed the presence of oil in the area.

Reserves and Production

The Morvin field is estimated to contain recoverable reserves of 70 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). The production period is expected to last approximately 14 years. Peak production is anticipated to be around 27,000 boe per day. ENI estimates that the field will contribute 12,000 boe per day net to the company by 2014.

Field Development

The initial field development plan included drilling three production wells (designated as 6506 / 11-A-1 H, A-2 H, A-3 H). Later, a fourth production well (designated as 6506 / 11-B-3 H) was added. The development cost for the initial three wells was estimated at Nkr8.7 billion, with an additional Nkr1.2 billion for the fourth well.

The Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) was submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on February 15, 2008, and was approved on April 25, 2008.

Subsea System

The Morvin field is developed using two subsea templates tied back to the Asgard B platform, which is located about 20 kilometers away. Asgard B is a semi-submersible platform primarily used for gas production but has the capacity to handle Morvin's oil production. The subsea templates were installed in May 2010.

The subsea system includes three horizontal subsea trees, two manifolds, steel umbilicals, a production control system, and a tie-in system. The system is designed to withstand high pressures (up to 15,000 psi) and temperatures (up to 170°C) due to the high-pressure and high-temperature nature of the Morvin reservoir.

Drilling Equipment

The first exploration well was drilled using the West Alpha rig, a semi-submersible rig owned by Seadrill. For the production wells, the Scarabeo 5 semi-submersible drilling rig, operated by Saipem, was used. Statoil received permission to use the Scarabeo 5 rig at the Morvin field on December 8, 2009.

Production and Transportation

The oil produced from the Morvin field is transported to the Asgard B platform for further processing via a 20-kilometer wellstream pipeline.

Start of Production

The Morvin field was brought onstream in August 2010.

Current Operation

As of recent updates, the Morvin field is operated by Equinor Energy AS, which is the successor to Statoil.