Statoil said that it expects first production from its Svalin field in the North Sea to begin in 2013 as it presented its $740 million development plan for the field to the Norwegian government on Friday.

Recoverable reserves at the field are estimated at around 75 million barrels of oil equivalent, with two structures Svalin C and Svalin M containing similar quantities.

The Svalin C and Svalin M discoveries will be developed using a so-called 'fast-track' method that uses a standard solution involving processing by existing infrastructure.

A Statoil spokesman explained to Rigzone on Friday afternoon that fast track development is specifically designed to make it profitable to recover oil and gas from relatively small discoveries.

"These developments make use of standardized solutions and connections to existing infrastructure," he said. "Quick investment decision making and processing by the granting authorities are other key factors. Fast track developments are built as tie-ins and are dependent on a parent platform for processing and transport."

The Svalin development will be tied back to the Grane platform. Svalin M will be produced by a well drilled from the Grane platform, while Svalin C will be a subsea development with a four-mile long flowline to the Grane platform. The hydrocarbons will utilize shared processing and export facilities.

The gas compression facility at the Grane platform will be modified to handle gas from Svalin. Oil from the Svalin development will be transported, along with production from the Grane field, through the existing pipelines for storage and shipment from the oil terminal at Sture.

"This is a fantastic way to make our fields last longer and get more out of them," said Statoil's Ivar Aasheim when presenting the plan to Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian oil major also announced Friday that it has awarded contracts for the charter of seven new supply vessels for the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The new vessels use the latest environmental technology while some of them are specifically designed for operation in the far north of the NCS, according to Statoil.

Two of the vessels will be supplied by Farstad Shipping, two by Atlantic Offshore, one by Simon Møkster Shipping, another one by Troms Offshore Management and the final one by Remøy Shipping. The total value of the contracts is $588 million.

"The seven newbuildings solidly equip us to meet the requirements for delivering supplies on the Norwegian continental shelf in future," said Statoil Head of Joint Operations Jannicke Hilland.

Source: Rigzone