Development

Visund is a field in the northern part of the North Sea, northeast of the Gullfaks field. The water depth is 335 metres. Visund was discovered in 1986, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 1996. The field is developed with a semi-submersible, integrated accommodation, drilling and processing facility (Visund A) and a subsea facility in the northern part of the field. The production started in 1999. A PDO for the gas phase was approved in 2002 and gas export started in 2005. A PDO exemption was granted in 2013 for the deposits Rhea and Titan east on Visund. The subsea facility north on Visund was replaced in 2013 due to problems with the original template. In 2017, a PDO exemption was granted for another subsea template north on Visund.

Reservoir

Visund produces oil and gas from sandstone of Late Triassic and Early Jurassic age in the Lunde Formation and Statfjord Group, and of Middle Jurassic age in the Brent Group. The reservoirs are in several tilted fault blocks with varying pressure and liquid systems. The reservoirs are at depths of 2900-3000 metres. The reservoir quality is generally good in the main reservoirs.

Recovery strategy

The field is mainly produced by pressure depletion, and partly with pressure support from water injection. Gas has earlier also been injected in some segments, but increased gas export since 2015 has reduced gas available for injection. Gas injection was terminated in 2021.

Transport

The oil is transported by pipeline to the Gullfaks A facility for storage and export via tankers. Gas is exported through the Kvitebjørn Gas Pipeline and on to the Kollsnes terminal, where the NGL is separated, and the dry gas is further exported to the market.

Status

The strategy for the Visund field is to maintain reservoir pressure within drilling limits and optimise oil recovery, while increasing gas exports. Oil production has been lower than expected in 2023 due to delays in drilling as well as technical problems with several of the existing wells. New production wells are being drilled continuously, some with exploration targets.