Pursuant to the Regulations relating to management and the duty to provide information in the petroleum activities and at certain onshore facilities (the management regulations) Section 25 item d, the PSA has granted Gassco consent to extend the life of Draupner S to 31.1.2028.
The Draupner S and Draupner E facilities are important features of Gassled, the Norwegian natural gas transport system. A large proportion of the gas delivered through this network transits Draupner.
Gassco is the operator, while Statoil provides technical services.
The Draupner S facility was originally designed with a lifetime of 30 years from its installation in 1984.
Current gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf demonstrates a continuing long-term need for Draupner as a gas hub.
What does producing life extension involve?
New technology and operating methods as well as measures to improve oil and gas recovery mean that licensees often want to keep existing facilities working past their retirement date.
In many cases, continuing to use facilities beyond their design life makes socio-economic sense. But permitting such extensions at the expense of safety is not acceptable.
The primary function of the Draupner facility is to regulate the volume, pressure and gas quality in order to maximise value in the gas transport chain. Draupner is an access node for the inspection and maintenance of the pipelines.
It is currently the hub for seven large pipelines.
The Draupner S facility was put into service in April 1985, as part of the Statpipe system.
The Draupner E facility was put into service in October 1995, as part of the Europipe 1 pipeline from Draupner to Dornum in Germany.
There is a bridge between the facilities. Water depth in the area is 70 metres.
Accommodation facilities and the control room are on Draupner S. The maximum total manning of Draupner consists of 38 persons. Normal operational manning is around 20 persons.