The licensees in Visund South have submitted a plan for development and operation (PDO) to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Production start-up is scheduled for the third quarter of 2012.

Visund South, which consists of the Pan and Pandora discoveries, is located 10 kilometres from both Gullfaks C and the Visund A platform, and will be developed with a subsea installation.

The installation will consist of a subsea template with four well slots, where three wells will be drilled and tied in to Gullfaks C for processing.

The total investment for the development amounts to 5.6 billion 2011 NOK. Transport and export will take place via Gullfaks C's export system.

The volumes on Visund South are estimated at approx. 67 million barrels of oil equivalents and the discovery is characterised as medium-sized. The discovery of oil and gas was made in 2008/2009 in 290 metres of water and 2900 metres below the seabed.

"Due to the risk of the pressure dropping on Visund South resulting in a potential loss of reserves, a rapid development of the field is necessary", says project manager Hogne Pedersen.

Visund South is the first in Statoil's portfolio of fast track developments. In just one year, the project has matured from an opportunity to an investment decision and PDO.

"Most likely, 2011 will be a breakthrough year for fast track developments on the Norwegian shelf. The fact that we have already submitted a PDO for Visund South shows that we are on the right path. There is therefore every reason to congratulate the project team on their efforts", says Executive Vice President Øystein Michelsen.

Visund South key facts: • Location: In the North Sea between the Visund and Gullfaks fields • Reservoir: Two structures, Pan and Pandora, with approx. 340 bar reservoir pressure • Volumes: 67 mboe (1/3 oil and 2/3 gas) • Expected lifetime: More than 15 years • Partners: Statoil (53.2 per cent) (operator), Total (7.7), Petoro (30.0) and ConocoPhillips (9.1)

Tags: Statoil