Development

Snøhvit is a field in the central part of the Hammerfest Basin in the southern part of the Barents Sea. The water depth is 310-340 metres. Snøhvit was discovered in 1984, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 2002. Snøhvit was the first field development in the Barents Sea. The field includes the Snøhvit, Albatross and Askeladd structures and has been developed in multiple phases. The development includes several subsea templates. Two well slots are used for CO2 injection. Production started in 2007. A PDO exemption for Snøhvit North was granted in 2015.

Reservoir

Snøhvit produces gas with condensate from Lower and Middle Jurassic sandstone in the Nordmela and Stø Formations. The reservoirs lie at a depth of 2,300 metres and have moderate to good quality. Development of a thin oil zone underlying the gas at the Snøhvit structure is not included in the PDO.

Recovery strategy

The field is produced by pressure depletion.

Transport

The well stream, with natural gas, CO2, natural gas liquids (NGL) and condensate, is transported in a 160-kilometre pipeline to the liquid natural gas (LNG) processing facility at Melkøya near Hammerfest. The CO2 is separated and returned to the field by pipeline for injection into the aquifer (Stø reservoir). LNG, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate are shipped to the market.

Status

Snøhvit production is in its plateau phase. Since production started, additional production wells have been drilled in different structures. Work is ongoing to evaluate future compression solutions, as well as measures for reducing CO2 emissions from the onshore facility at Melkøya. The Snøhvit production was shut-in after a fire at the LNG plant at Melkøya in 2020, but was resumed in June 2022 when the plant was fully operational again.