PGNiG starts production of gas and oil from Gina Krog field

The Gina Krog platform is tied into Sleipner A. Photo: Ole Jørgen Bratland, Statoil.

Located in the North Sea the Gina Krog field was brought on stream on June 30, 2017. PGNiG Upstream Norway is one of the four consortium partners, holding an 8% interest in the licence. The field’s recoverable reserves have been put at 218 million boe, the figure equal to last year’s total output from the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Situated about 30 km off the Norwegian coastline, Gina Krog is one of the five oil and gas fields in that area in which PGNiG holds interests.

– Launch of production from the Gina Krog field is very good news not only for PGNiG, but for the entire Polish gas industry. High productivity of this licence area will significantly contribute to PGNiG’s production volumes from the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 2017 – said Piotr Woźniak, President of the Management Board of PGNiG S.A.

– Starting production from the field is another step towards gradual increasing the volumes of hydrocarbons produced by PGNiG in Norway. We assume that starting from 2022 we will be able to supply approximately 2.5 billion cm3 of gas produced from our own deposits annually to Poland, through a gas link from Norway via Denmark – he added.

Discovered in 1974, Gina Krog was initially considered a small gas accumulation. It was only in 2007 that it turned out to be rich also in large quantities of crude oil. PGNiG Upstream Norway acquired an interest in the field in 2014. The licence operator is Statoil Petroleum AS, with a 58.7% interest. The other consortium members are: Total E&P Norge AS (15%), KUFPEC Norway AS (15%) and Aker BP ASA (3.3%).

More than 600 people have been working on Gina Krog field since last August preparing the platform for production. The Gina Krog platform is tied in to Sleipner A and uses both processing capacity on the platform and existing pipelines for sending the gas to the market in Europe.

Oil from the field is transported by a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO), which will be located on the field.

Gina Krog is a global project with substantial Norwegian deliveries. For example, the living quarter has been built at Stord, more than half of the equipment packages come from Norway, and all drilling and well services are performed by Norwegian suppliers.

However some companies from Poland have also been involved in the project as subcontractors. Early summer 2015, Gdansk – based Aluship Technology had delivered two accommodation modules weighing 212 tonnes each, for the Gina Krog platform living quarter built at Apply Leirvik in Stord, Norway. Both were transported to Norway by the tugboat Boa Odin.

Another Polish company, EPG (Energomontaż-Północ) based in Gdynia has constructed two oil and gas loading elements. Submerged turret loading (STL) and riser base, made by EPG, weigh 500 tonnes. Riser base installed on the seabed will be used to provide oil to the surface, while the turret will deliver oil directly to the floating storage and offshore unit (FPSO).

One of the key elements of the PGNiG Group Strategy for 2017–2022 is to expand its upstream business outside of Poland. The natural target market for the Group’s expansion plans is Norway, where PGNiG has already gained extensive experience in crude oil and gas production. The Norwegian Continental Shelf) is considered a promising area in terms of hydrocarbon resources. Upstream projects located there typically offer high profitability and low risk profiles. Both existing projects and future investments in the region will create a base for future gas supplies to Poland.

By 2022 the Norwegian, Danish and Polish transmission system operators will construct a gas pipeline system to secure direct gas imports from Norway to Poland. The PGNiG Group is involved in efforts aimed at importing Norwegian gas to Poland through the new infrastructure connection.

PGNiG (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo, eng.: Polish Petroleum and Gas Mining) is a Polish state-controlled oil and gas company, headquartered at Warsaw and listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

GL, rel (PGNiG, Statoil)