The original accommodation platform at Valhall (QP) in the southern part of the North Sea has been safely removed by the giant vessel Pioneering Spirit. This was the first of the original structures at Valhall to be removed as part of the modernization of the Valhall field centre.

Executed in the morning of Friday 14 June, the single-lift operation took 2 hours to complete from positioning Pioneering Spirit around the 3800 t platform to the moment of the lift. The actual “fast lift” of the topsides took only 9 seconds. The 109 t bridge connecting the QP topsides to the neighbouring drilling platform was removed using one of the vessel’s cranes on Tuesday 11 June.

– Together with Allseas and the team at Pioneering Spirit, we have successfully concluded two years of engineering, planning and pre-lift preparations. The safe and efficient removal of the QP platform is an important milestone for Valhall and for Aker BP, says Per Mikal Hauge, Vice president Valhall asset.

 

Removal of the QP topsides is the first job for Pioneering Spirit under the frame agreement which Allseas signed with Aker BP in 2017 to provide transport, installation and removal services for the Valhall field. The QP topside will be transported to- and disposed at the Kvaerner disposal yard at Stord.

A giant field
The Valhall field was discovered in 1975 and put into production in 1982 with three installations; a process / production platform, a drilling platform and an accommodation platform (QP). More recently a wellhead platform (WP) and Injection platform (IP) was installed. Lastly, production from the new process / accommodation platform (PH) started in January 2013.

The QP topsides is the first of the three original structures to be removed from the field centre. The remaining platforms at the field centre – IP, WP and PH – and the Flank platforms will produce for many, many years to come.

Valhall and Hod have passed one billion barrels of oil equivalents (oil, gas and NGL) produced – thus more than three times what was expected at the opening of the field in 1982.

– The continuous high activity level at Valhall, with simultaneous drilling operations, plugging and abandonment of old wells, removal of the original three platforms, multiple new wells and a the new Flanke West platform soon to be installed demonstrates our determination to reach the ambition of another billion barrels produced from the area, says Per Mikal Hauge

Aker BP ASA has awarded frame agreements with three suppliers for the provision of Platform Supply Vessels.

(mer…)

Profitable growth and increasing dividends

(mer…)

Today, Aker BP became the first company on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to operate a staffed platform from an onshore control room. Ivar Aasen in the North Sea is now operated from Aker BP’s offices at Trondheim torg (video in Norwegian).

(mer…)

Maersk Invincible has completed the plug and abandonment (P&A) programme of wells at the Valhall field centre much sooner than planned, with no harm to people, equipment or the environment – and zero CO2 and NOx emissions.

Since May 2017, Maersk Invincible has plugged a total of 14 wells at the original drilling platform (DP). In the period 2014-2016, the first 12 wells on DP were plugged – at the time using the Maersk Reacher drilling rig.

The P&A work has been completed much faster than planned. For example, the average time per well has been reduced by 50 per cent compared with the first phase, despite a rise in the complexity of the wells towards the end of the campaign.

“We had a fantastic team in place, both onshore and offshore, many of them going back to when the P&A programme started with Maersk Reacher. The collaboration with Maersk Drilling, as with the service companies, has been excellent. Throughout the campaign, there has been a continuous search for improvements”, says Aker BP’s SVP Drilling and Wells, Tommy Sigmundstad.

Maersk Invincible has now moved to Valhall Flank North, where it will drill an injection and a production well.

Long-term plans for Valhall

Plugging wells on the DP platform is a key part of the work to modernize the Valhall field centre. The three original platforms from when the field started producing in 1982 – QP, DP and PCP – will be removed. Four wells remain to be permanently plugged prior to the removal of the DP platform.

“For the development of Valhall, the success of the P&A campaign is crucial. Above all, permanent plugging makes a key contribution to HSE because it secures the non-producing wells. In addition, the P&A team has completed its operations quickly and efficiently. This means lower costs and shorter run times”, says Vice President for the Valhall Asset, Per Mikal Hauge.

The remaining platforms at the field centre – IP, WP and PH – as well as the Flank platforms will produce for many, many years to come.

Zero CO2 and NOx emissions

Maersk Invincible has been supplied with electricity through the Valhall field when conducting the P&A scope. It is probably the first time ever a drilling rig has been powered fully from shore.

Calculations show that electrification of the drilling rig has reduced the annual local emissions by 15,200 tonnes of CO2 and 168 tonnes of NOx.

This has been a pioneer project for Aker BP, underpinning the company’s strategy of developing solutions that contribute to minimizing the environmental consequences of our activities.

Aker BP today announced that it has signed a ventures cooperation agreement with BP to explore possible areas of cooperation in the development and deployment of advanced technologies in their businesses.

Through their planned strategic alliance, BP and Aker BP intend to explore potential venture capital investments targeting technology and innovation improvements, including developments in digital twins, advanced seismic techniques and processing, and subsea and robot technology. The alliance is also expected to include identifying and evaluating innovations which could improve the environmental performance of offshore oil and gas production.

Steve Cook BP Technology’s chief commercial officer said: “BP has built a strong track-record of targeted investment through BP Ventures in a range of technologies and sectors.  Working together with Aker BP, our alliance will be focused on identifying technologies that could be transformational in the upstream sector, enabling the digital transformation of subsurface characterisation and workflows. Our alliance will help both companies identify and invest in innovation that will help secure and advance our industry’s future.  We believe that working together can deliver real value for both BP and Aker BP.”

Karl Johnny Hersvik, the CEO of Aker BP said: “Aker BP is very pleased to expand the cooperation with BP. We want to leverage this alliance to expand our capacity to identify innovative technology companies that can help us to solve our key business challenges. Aker BP targets to become a preferred partner for such companies through various cooperation models, including potential equity investments.”

About BP Ventures
BP Ventures identifies and invests in private, high growth, potentially game-changing technology companies, accelerating cutting-edge innovations across the entire energy spectrum. Since 2006, BP Ventures has invested over $400 million in corporate venturing and has  42 active investments in its current portfolio.

BP Ventures’ portfolio is primarily focused on emerging technologies in oil and gas exploration and production and downstream conversion processes. In addition, it has a renewed strategic focus on five key areas: advanced mobility, bio & low carbon products, carbon management, digital transformation and power & storage.

About Aker BP
Aker BP ASA was formed in 2016 through the combination of Det norske oljeselskap and BP’s Norwegian exploration and production business. Combining the assets and expertise from both companies Aker BP is the largest Norwegian independent oil and gas producer.  Aker BP is independently operated and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is headquartered at Fornebu outside Oslo and has offices in Stavanger, Trondheim, Harstad and Sandnessjøen. BP holds a 30% interest in Aker BP.

Further information
BP press office, London: +44 (0)20 7496 4076, bppress@bp.com
Aker BP press office, +47 40224217, ole-johan.faret@akerbp.com

 

Maersk Drilling and Aker BP have agreed to a one-year contract to deploy high-performance rig Maersk Integrator on the Norwegian shelf from June 2019. The contract is founded on the alliance that the parties entered into in 2017. (mer…)

Aker BP and Google demonstrates how digital solutions has started to reconstruct the oil industry

Aker BP’s CEO, Karl Johnny Hersvik on stage with Google’s Darryl Willis, VP Oil, Gas, and Energy, Google Cloud. They are speaking together and demonstrating Cognite’s data platform at ONS2018 in Stavanger

In collaboration with Cognite and Framo, Aker BP intensifies the digitalisation of offshore operations; new smart service contract will change the traditional approach to maintenance.

The Ivar Aasen platform in the North Sea provides Aker BP with more than just oil. It also transmits vast volumes of data back to shore. The interpretation of these data are now set to make the platform amongst the most technically advanced worldwide.

«Aker BP’s vision is to digitalize all our operations from cradle to grave. Key elements are transforming business models and activities through digital technologies and the liberation of data flows. The smart service contract with Framo and Cognite is an important milestone on this journey, and underpins our ambition to take the lead in digitalization», says Lars Atle Andersen, VP Operations – Technology & Digitalization in Aker BP.

A successful collaboration with suppliers

By using Cognite’s data platform, contextualised live data is made available from Ivar Aasen. This provides Framo, the supplier of pumps to Ivar Aasen, real-time access to data from their equipment.

«With Cognite making live and contextualised data available, we at Framo are able to create our own ‘apps’ to predict the status of our equipment, allowing us to plan efficient maintenance. The new system sends intelligent data on our pumps, so we can predict how the pumps will perform in the future» says Trond Petter Abrahamsen, Managing Director of Framo Services AS.

The overall goal of the collaboration between Aker BP, Cognite and Framo is to change the traditional approach to maintenance. Continuous flow of live offshore data allows for onshore monitoring of equipment replacing unnecessary scheduled maintenance activities with maintenance when needed.

This also calls for a new approach to agreements, and on Wednesday 29th of August a special smart service contract between Aker BP and Framo Services will be signed.

«The newly available insights of how the pumps of a specific installation are functioning, results in more efficient maintenance. While our service agreements previously just defined hourly rates, we will now focus on uptime. This is something completely new for us and has required the design of new smart contracts with Aker BP»,” explains Trond Petter Abrahamsen.

Profitable at 35 USD per barrel

Aker BP will continue to digitalise their offshore operations, and the company’s objective is to carry out profitable development projects even at oil prices below 35 USD per barrel. Cognite’s data platform is a core enabler for these ambitions. Cognite liberates and organises Aker BP’s industrial data to create a digital representation of the industrial reality, both back in time and in real-time. It enables AkerBP to extract useful insights on its operations but also to share its data and insights with partners like Framo and to enable new services and business models.

«The more we share, the better. If we can apply this technology in all our fields, our operations will improve. We are confident that this is a smart move. That’s why we are clearly stating what we want to achieve and hope that many others will follow», says Lars Atle Andersen from Aker BP.

FACTS

Cognite

Norwegian SaaS technology company with ambition of providing the world’s best industrial IOT data platform. The strength of the platform lies with its ability to contextualize all industrial data types. Once contextualized, the Cognite Data Platform provides extensive toolkits and APIs to build unlimited models and applications and unlock the data´s value for its end customers. The applications are immense, from wind and energy to shipping, offshore and transportation. Cognite´s technology is in daily operation at large industrial companies. www.cognite.com

Framo

Established in 1938 and currently a world-leading supplier of high-quality pump systems for both global shipping and the offshore industry. The company has a total 1,200 employees and its main office on the island of Askøy close to Bergen. It also has eight branch offices. The company’s equipment is produced locally in three different factories in the Bergen area. www.framo.com

The Ivar Aasen field

The Ivar Aasen field is located in the northern part of the North Sea, some 175 km west of Karmøy. The sea depth at the platform is approximately 110 metres.

The initial discovery was made in 2008. Production started on 24 December 2016. The first oil production at the Ivar Aasen field was four years after submission of the plan for development and operation (PDO).

The development of Ivar Aasen covers resources from five licences: PL 001B, 028 B, 242, 338 and 457. The licence-holders in the five fields signed an agreement in June 2014 specifying ownership of the unit-based development.

The partners involved in the Ivar Aasen field are: Aker BP ASA (34.7862%), Equinor ASA (41.4730%), Bayerngas Norge (12.3173%), Wintershall Norge (6.4615%), VNG Norge (3.0230%), Lundin Norway (1.3850%), OKEA (0.5540%)

CONTACT

Ole-Johan Faret, Press spokesperson, Aker BP
Mobile: +47 402 24 217 / Email: ole-johan.faret@akerbp.com

Andrzej Golebiowski, Chief Commercial Officer, Cognite
Mobile: +47 452 14 904 / Email: Andrzej.Golebiowski@cognite.com

Trond Petter Abrahamsen, Managing Director, Framo Services AS
Mobile: +47 901 45 266 / Email: tpa@framo.no

Aker BP ASA is pleased to announce that the Johan Sverdrup partnership today is submitting the plan for development and operations (PDO) for the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup field development to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

The Phase 2 PDO demonstrates further improvements in resources and investment cost for the Johan Sverdrup field:

• Total recoverable resources for Johan Sverdrup are now estimated to 2.2-3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalents (previously 2.1-3.1 billion barrels), with a most likely estimate of 2.7 billion barrels.
• Phase 1 of the field development is 80 percent complete, and remains on track for production start in November 2019. The investment cost estimate for Phase 1 is reduced from NOK 88 billion to NOK 86 billion. The planned production capacity for Phase 1 is 440,000 barrels per day.
• The investment cost estimate for Phase 2 is reduced from NOK 45 billion to NOK 41 billion. Phase 2 will increase the field’s production capacity to 660,000 barrels per day. Production start for Phase 2 is planned for Q4 2022.
• The break-even oil price for the total project is below USD 20 per barrel. For Phase 2 alone, the break-even price is below USD 25 per barrel.
• Johan Sverdrup will have very low CO2 emissions of only 0.67 kg per barrel.

Aker BP has 11.57 percent working interest in the Johan Sverdrup field, which is operated by Equinor. For more information about Johan Sverdrup and the Phase 2 PDO, please see today’s press release from Equinor.

Media contacts:
Tore Langballe, VP Communications, tel.: +47 907 77 841
Ole-Johan Faret, Press Spokesman, tel.: +47 402 24 217

Investor contact:
Kjetil Bakken, VP Investor Relations, tel.: +47 918 89 889