STAVENGER, Norway, March 15 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy giant Statoil began low-pressure production at its Oseberg field in the North Sea to enhance oil recovery, official said.
Statoil said that two decades of oil production and nine years of gas exports from Oseberg reservoirs necessitated a rebuild of the process facility to reduce platform back pressure.
Torstein Hole, an operations manager for Statoil, said the modifications would increase productivity from the North Sea site.
"We have carried out extensive modifications to the process facility on the Oseberg Field Center and removed a bottleneck for increased oil production," he said.
The modification allows Statoil to recover an additional 20 million barrels of oil from Oseberg.
Statoil said the upgrades amount to $1.7 billion in revenue at the current market price for crude oil.
Statoil has struggled with declining reserves in the North Sea.
