Statoil installs topsides on Velmon field
On Monday 28 July the topsides constructed at a Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard were lifted into place on the steel jacket on the Valemon field in the North Sea, the Company said in a media release.
The structure sailed from the yard on 15 June this year, and after a quick stop in Åmøyfjorden, Stavanger, last Saturday, it headed out to the field. The transportation to Norway took 40 days.
“This is a major milestone for the project, the most important milestone of course being start-up towards the end of the year,” says Bjørn Laastad, vice president for Valemon field development.
The lift of the 9 750-tonne topsides took two hours, and was performed slightly earlier than initially assumed.
Thanks to good weather in the North Sea this summer, the Saipem 7000 crane vessel was available for lifting once the topsides arrived in Norway. The weather was favourable also when the crane vessel and the topsides arrived on the field.
“We had almost perfect lifting conditions,” Viktor Nilsen-Nygaard, head of Valemon transportation and installation, reports from the crane vessel.
After the topsides were lifted into place, the flare boom was installed.
The more than two-year planning period has included very thorough safety evaluations for all phases of the lifting operation. From mid-June the West Elara rig pre-drilled production wells through the jacket on the field.
The rig’s derrick has been pulled in during the lifting operations. During the lift the distance between the topsides and rig was just five metres.
The well operations will resume in mid-October. According to plan three wells will be producing when the field comes on stream at the end of the year. The rig’s job, however, will be far from finished. Drilling on the field is planned to continue until 2017.
