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Enhanced Oil Recovery by Injection of Seawater and Mixtures of Seawater and Produced Water
StatoilHydro Faces High Operating Costs in the Arctic
StatoilHydro is facing higher than expected operating costs in its environmental damage from gas flaring, which fuelled a 3% rise in
exploration activities in the Arctic. The Stavanger-based corporation – Norway’s entire greenhouse gas emissions in 2007. “We haven’t
the biggest oil producer on the Norwegian continental shelf and the found the key to the Barents yet,” said Knut Henrik Dalland, Vice
world’s third-largest oil and gas exporter – has operated the Snoehvit President of Hammerfest LNG, the StatoilHydro-led venture.
(‘Snow White’) gas field on the Barents Sea since September 2007.
StatoilHydro pumps natural gas from Snoehvit to Melkoya, processing StatoilHydro is not alone in persisting to explore the region despite
and cooling it before exporting it to Europe and the US as liquefied its challenges. In 2008, Royal Dutch Shell invested US$2.1 billion to
natural gas (LNG). The plant is running at 80–90% capacity, up from explore the Chukchi Sea near the Alaskan coast, and the US, Russia,
60% last year. Canada, Norway and Denmark (through its dependency,
Greenland) are all carrying out surveys after seismic technologies
However, its Arctic exploration is beset with technical challenges. established the presence of oil-bearing structures similar to those of
Suitable production technologies for icy waters, adequate oil spill western Siberia, a hydrocarbon-rich region. There is now
equipment and emergency response measures are difficult to provide. speculation that the Arctic could contain over one-fifth of the
In addition, one of Statoil’s LNG plants closed after a saltwater world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources, with estimated reserves
incursion into a heat-exchanger, while the Kvitebjoern–Visund of 100 billion barrels of oil. Advances in drilling technology,
pipeline suffered damage from a ship’s anchor. These setbacks have improved transportation vessels for LNG and receding ice caps are
forced StatoilHydro to raise cost estimates by US$3.69bn. First-phase all allowing access to new mineral deposits and shipping routes.
costs were revised to US$7.73bn, up from US$5.24bn. The cost for Although exploration costs are high and environmentalists are
the next three phases was increased by US$1.2bn to US$3.34bn, and strongly opposed to oil exploration (with group Earthjustice
the falling value of LNG will put the project under even more financial blocking Shell’s plans to drill in Sivulliq, off the coast of northern
strain. Snoehvit – the world’s northernmost natural gas plant, which Alaska, in November), the promise of new riches is proving heady
has a potential production life of 40 years – also faces criticism for to those with the resources to pursue them. ■
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