Hi beedlebee,

You need to go no further than Europe to find ExxonMobil successfuly operating in deep HTHP environment.

ExxonMobil Starts Production on Norwegian Kristin Field

ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, has participated in the development of the Kristin field which began production on November 3rd, 2005. Kristin contains estimated recoverable reserves of 43 billion cubic metres of gas and 240 million barrels of condensate. ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc. has a 10.90 percent equity stake in this field, operated by the Norwegian company Statoil.

"Kristin is a high temperature and pressure field development consisting of four subsea templates tied back to a floating platform, with a planned total of twelve wells, said J. Michael Yeager, Vice President of ExxonMobil Development Company. "The produced gas is piped via the Åsgard Transport line to the Kårstø processing plant north of Stavanger, while the condensate goes to the Åsgard C storage ship for export."

Kristin is due to reach plateau production next summer. A total of NOK 21.6 billion has been invested in the development which includes the Tofte reservoir.

The infrastructure established to produce Kristin enables the development of further projects in the area, which will secure ExxonMobil production for years to come. The Statoil-operated Tyrihans field in which the company has a 33 percent equity share, is already due to be tied back to the Kristin platform and to start production in 2009.

ExxonMobil is operator for the Balder, Jotun, Ringhorne and Sigyn fields. With an interest in more than 20 fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the company contributes about 10 percent of the total Norwegian daily production of approximately 4.4 MBDOE.

There's Something about Kristin

The Kristin oilfield is almost 5,000m below the seabed with a reservoir temperature of 170°C and pressure of 910 bar. As such it operates in one of the world's most demanding environments. World Expro looks at how StatoilHydro has coped with operating a deepwater field in such extreme conditions.

Date: 03 Sep 2008