Development

Snorre is a field in the Tampen area in the northern part of the North Sea. The water depth is 300-350 metres. Snorre was discovered in 1979, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 1988. The field is developed with the facilities Snorre A, located in the southern part of the field, Snorre B in the northern part and two subsea systems tied-back to Snorre A (SPS and SEP). Snorre A is a floating tension-leg platform for accommodation, drilling and processing. There is also a separate process module on Snorre A for full stabilisation of the well stream from the Vigdis field. The production from Snorre A started in 1992. The subsea production system SPS was installed on the field in 1992. It consists of one template with 20 slots for production and injection wells. In 1998, a PDO was approved for Snorre B, a semi-submersible integrated drilling, processing and accommodation facility. Snorre B started production in 2001. An amended PDO for the Snorre Expansion Project (SEP) was approved in 2018. SEP consists of six subsea templates, each with four wells, and production from the first wells started in 2020. In 2020, an amended PDO for the development of the Hywind Tampen wind farm was approved. The wind farm consists of 11 floating turbines that started supplying electricity to the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms in 2022/2023. These fields are the first in the world receiving power from a floating wind farm.

Reservoir

Snorre produces oil from Triassic and Lower Jurassic sandstone in the Alke and Lunde Formations and the Statfjord Group. The field consists of several large fault blocks. The reservoirs are at depths of 2000-2700 metres and have complex structures with both channels and flow barriers.

Recovery strategy

The field is produced with pressure support from water injection, gas injection and water alternating gas injection (WAG). From 2019, all gas is reinjected to increase oil recovery.

Transport

Oil and gas are separated at the Snorre A platform. The oil is stabilised at the Vigdis process module on Snorre A, then exported through the Vigdis pipeline to Gullfaks A. The oil is stored and loaded onto shuttle tankers at the Gullfaks field. All gas from Snorre and Vigdis is reinjected into the Snorre field. Fully processed oil from Snorre B is transported by pipeline to Statfjord B for storage and loading onto shuttle tankers.

Status

Several measures to increase oil recovery from Snorre are being considered. Possible third-party tie-ins may lead to further development of the field. Measures to further reduce emissions are also considered.