First Oil from Alvheim
"Alvheim is a new oil hub for the Norwegian Continental Shelf; and along with nearby satellite fields, it will contribute significantly to Marathon's defined production growth profile through 2012 and beyond," said David E. Roberts, Jr., Marathon executive vice president of Upstream. "With the commissioning of this significant floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, we are now focused on ramping up production and maximizing the full resource potential of our holdings in the region."
The Alvheim and Vilje developments are estimated to contain gross resources of approximately 250 million boe. Marathon has a 65 percent interest in the Alvheim fields and serves as operator. Marathon holds a non-operated 46.9 percent interest in the Vilje field, a subsea development tie back to Alvheim.
The Alvheim purpose-designed FPSO vessel takes advantage of the latest technology for low emission gas turbines - a first for the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The facility has a nameplate capacity of 120,000 barrels per day of oil and 125 million cubic feet per day of natural gas with total storage capacity of 560,000 barrels of oil. It is located about 140 miles (224 kilometers) from Stavanger, Norway, in approximately 400 feet (125 meters) of water. In addition to the FPSO, the Alvheim development includes subsea infrastructure consisting of four drill centers and associated flow lines. The development provides for the transportation of produced oil by shuttle tanker, and transportation of produced natural gas to the existing U.K. SAGE system using a new 14-inch, 24-mile cross border pipeline. As a regional hub, the Alvheim FPSO is well positioned to deliver significant production for the long-term.
Marathon's partners in the Alvheim development are ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS with a 20 percent working interest, and Lundin Norway AS, which holds the remaining 15 percent interest. The Alvheim fields are located in Production Licenses (PL) 203, 088BS and 036C on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Vilje is located in PL 036 and Marathon's partners are StatoilHydro Petroleum AS (operator) with a 29 percent interest and TOTAL E&P Norge AS with the remaining 24 percent interest.
Satellite Field
The Volund development in PL 150 continues to make progress toward first production in the second half of 2009 and will also be tied back to the Alvheim infrastructure. Marathon has a 65 percent interest in Volund and serves as operator, while Lundin Norway AS holds the remaining 35 percent interest.
