STAVANGER, Norway, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil said Monday it upgraded the platform at the Kvitebjorn field in the North Sea to extend its life by eight years.
The company said a new compressor will increase the recovery rate at the North Sea field from 55 percent to 70 percent, which translates to an extra 220 million barrels of oil equivalent.
"These are very profitable barrels, which make a considerable contribution to wealth creation on the Norwegian continental shelf," Kjetil Hove, a development director at Statoil, said in a statement. "Increased production and extended lifetime for the field also provides increased ripple effects across the entire value chain."
The company said Kvitebjorn is the first of six fields in production slated for the overhaul in the next few years. Once all services are completed, it will result in more than 1.2 billion barrels of equivalent for Statoil. Statoil last week started production from the Fram H-North and Svalin C in the Norwegian waters of the North Sea, which combine for more than 40 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.
Norway is the largest oil and natural gas producer in Europe. Gas from Kvitebjorn is sent to continental Europe, while other petroleum products are piped to Norway.
