Before the lights go out on Gyda

Chapter 5: Cessation

Production from the Gyda field has reached its tail phase and is currently low and stable. Cessation is planned for September 2018. Projects for improving recovering and extending the field’s producing life have been judged commercially unviable. Moreover, other tie-back options are available in the area for developing additional resources in the area.

Gyda is an oil field in block 2/1 at the southern part of the Norwegian sector in the North Sea sector. It lies in 66 metres of water between Ula and Ekofisk, about 280 kilometres south-west of Stavanger, and has been developed with an integrated production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform supported by a steel jacket. (Photo: Sysla Offshore)

Costs and time frame

The Gyda facility is planned to be removed and shipped to land for scrapping. According to the licensees’ timetable, offshore disposal work will be completed in the first half of the 2020s. Removing the installation so soon after cessation avoids unnecessary maintenance costs.

Final disposal of the Gyda facility is costed at about NOK 5.7 billion, including plugging and abandonment of wells, removal of the topside, jacket and seabed equipment, and post-removal operating costs. This estimate will be updated when the licensees take the final decision on plugging method and disposal solution.

Plugging, technology and technological development

Gyda has 32 wells of different designs which need to be permanently plugged and abandoned. Well plugging accounts for about 35 per cent of total cessation costs on Gyda. Generally speaking, costs for well plugging vary considerably. The Gyda licensees have assessed a number of technologies and solutions and made extensive efforts to ensure low costs. Gyda’s own drilling facilities will be used for the plugging.