LOTOS began to extract from the Utgard field

Production of the Utgard field in Norway commenced on 16 September 2019. The project was completed approximately three months earlier than planned and achieved 25% savings in relation to the assumed budget. The shareholder of the concession is Lotos Exploration & Production Norge (Lotos Norge) and the operator is Equinor. The deposit is an important element of Lotos’ strategy in the exploration and production segment.

The Utgard field is located in the central part of the North Sea at a depth of 3700 m (at a water depth of 110 m). It lies approximately 21 km from the existing Sleipner hub infrastructure, on the border of the Norwegian and British shelves, which makes it the first cross-border field developed by Equinor Energy AS. The company owns exactly 38.44% of the shares in this concession and is its operator. Lotos Norge’s share is 17.36%. The other partners are: Equinor UK Limited (38.44%) and KUFPEC Norway AS (6.2%).

The project was completed approximately 3 months faster than the original schedule and achieved 25% savings compared to the budget, while maintaining the highest occupational health and safety standards. The deposit was developed in the so-called “fast path” mode. Thanks to it, the implementation phase took less than 3 years from the approval of the Deposit Development Plan in January 2017.

Utgard uses the nearby Sleipner infrastructure, which provides additional synergies and added value for the entire Sleipner hub – next to Heimdal, one of the two main areas of Lotos’ activity in Norway. The estimated recoverable reserves of the Utgard field are approximately 40 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), of which, as indicated above, Lotos has a 17.36% stake.

– With the launch of the Utgard project, we are strengthening our position in Norway. This is another important element of our strategy in the field of exploration and extraction – emphasizes Mateusz A. Bonca, President of the Management Board of Grupa Lotos SA – Realised ahead of time and below the assumed budget – is a perfect example of the fact that it is worth cooperating with experienced partners. What is more, using the existing infrastructure of the Sleipner mining area, where Lotos holds 15% of shares, it allows to achieve additional operational and business synergies.

The Utgard deposit was discovered in 1982 and its development was considered several times. Implemented technical standardization solutions in the design process allowed for cost optimization and submission of the Deposit Development Plan to the Norwegian and British authorities in 2016.

Production is carried out by means of two wells connected to the Sleipner field by an underwater pipeline. The infrastructure is on the Norwegian side of the border, while the wells are on both the British and Norwegian sides. Most of the resources are on the Norwegian side and Utgard is remotely operated from the Norwegian Sleipner field. Utgard also uses the existing Sleipner infrastructure to purify gas and inject separated CO2. The necessary modifications to the Sleipner extraction area for the current connection were made in Q3 2018.

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Lotos Norge is active in the exploration for and extraction of hydrocarbons on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It belongs to the Lotos Upstream Capital Group (part of the Lotos Capital Group), where it is responsible for the implementation of the Lotos extraction segment strategy in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. Currently, it produces 15,000 boe per day.

Lotos Norge was established in 2007. A year later, the company was classified as an operator of exploration and production licences by the Norwegian authorities. Lotos Norge aims at further development through, among other things, active participation in APA rounds. The first exploration well was drilled by the company as an operator in 2012. In 2013, the company acquired shares in the Heimdal area and in 2015 in the Sleipner area. Currently, work is underway on the development of the Yme, Trell and Trine fields and the fields located in the Greater Heimdal area (the so-called NOAKA project).

Rel (Lotos)