On 9 August, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) received the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for the Utgard discovery in the North Sea.
Utgard is a gas and condensate discovery, stretching across the border between the Norwegian and UK continental shelves. The discovery is located in block 15/8 on the Norwegian shelf and in block 16/8a on the UK shelf. Estimated recoverable resources from the discovery are about 9 million standard cubic metres of oil equivalents. The largest share of the reserves in Utgard are located on the Norwegian side.
Utgard is situated about 21 kilometres west of the Sleipner field centre. Water depth in the area is 110 metres, and the reservoir is located about 3700 metres below the sea surface.
The discovery, which was made in 1982 while drilling well 15/8-1, has been considered for development several times before. The licensees are planning to start production in the 4th quarter of 2019.
According to the plan, Utgard will be a subsea development consisting of a subsea template with space for drilling and completion of up to four wells. The plan is to drill two production wells from the subsea template. All facilities will be placed on the Norwegian side of the border.