• Yme is a brownfield development, involving both the re-use of existing facilities and infrastructure and design and construction of new facilities.
• Yme is one of the key upstream projects that Repsol is focusing on within the framework of the company's 2021–2025 Strategic Plan.

“I am proud that the production from Yme has now started. COVID-19 has unfortunately caused the project to be delayed and more costly than expected, but we have still managed to deliver the project in a safe and reliable way. This milestone is a result of hard work and good collaboration by all involved parties, and the production from Yme will ensure a solid financial contribution to both the licensees and the Norwegian state for many years to come”.

Vidar Nedrebø

Managing Director in Repsol Norge

October 2021

Project milestones- year by year

2022: 

Offshore at the Yme-field: End June: The drilling rig Valaris Viking arrived at Beta North location and started the drilling of the three wells, two production wells and one injector well .

2021: 

Offshore at the Yme-field:The topsides construction and completion work started immediately after the arrival at the field in late December 2020. This work included the make safe preparations of the wellhead module, installation of flexible pipes and hook up spools on the wellhead module and Mærsk Inspirer, crude oil pumps, and many more completion activities.During summer a series of subsea campaigns were carried out to prepare the Yme Beta North site for installation of the new subsea template, and rigid spools in preparation for the new wells to be drilled at the Beta North area in 2022. The spool fabrication was completed at Rosenberg in Stavanger before installation offshore.

Yme starting producing in October. On 27 October 2021, Repsol Norge AS took over the day-to-day operations of the jack-up rig Inspirer (formerly Mærsk Inspirer) from Maersk Drilling. The Yme licensees will lease the rig from Havila Sirius AS under a bareboat charter. In December: First oil cargo from Yme.

2020:

Egersund in Norway: Modification and upgrading work continued in all areas of Mærsk Inspirer, and in the early autumn, work at the yard reached completion. Much of the work that remained was thorough testing of systems on board Mærsk Inspirer. In November the flexible jumpers were loaded onboard the rig to be installed offshore between the wellhead module and the rig. In December, the work on the rig was completed, and we prepared for the rig move awaiting suitable weather conditions. On 29 December, the Mærsk Inspirer left the yard in Egersund and arrived safely at the Yme field. Mærsk Inspirer in location at the field on 31 December. The project now entered the offshore hook-up and commissioning phase.

Offshore at Yme, in February the pre-commissioning activities of the Yme Beta and subsea loading system were completed together with the pull-in of the fibre optic cable. A subsea rock installation for the fibre optic cable and protection covers was performed in July.

Mærsk Inspirer in location at the field on 31 December. The project now entered the offshore hook-up and commissioning phase.

2019:

Verdal in Norway:

Fabrication work on the Caisson Permanent Support structure continued, including Site Integration Testing activities of the main clamp assembly to ensure a proper fit up. The support structure fabrication was completed in early May in preparation for load-out activities and offshore construction.

Egersund in Norway:

In June the new hang-off module was completed and successfully installed on the Mærsk Inspirer rig. The new wellhead module was complete and put on barge to be transported offshore in August. In December the lifeboat frames were installed, and the interconnection module was lifted successfully in place.

Offshore at the Yme field:

Subsea inspection activities were carried out at both Gamma and Beta readying the existing manifold, template, flowlines and umbilical for operation. The caisson permanent support diving and ROV preparation activities were completed in April. Installation of the Caisson Permanent Support was completed in June and in early July the Caisson Permanent Support was finally secured. The upgraded subsea control modules were installed in June. The new wellhead module was lifted successfully in place in September, and the new subsea oil loading system was installed in October. A rock installation vessel campaign prepared three rock pads to support the Mærsk Inspirer.

2018:

In Grenaa in Danmark the upgrading of the Mærsk Inspirer rig took place with extensive scaffolding and painting of the rig. In June the old wellhead module was removed and replaced by a new independent one to be produced in Egersund in Norway. In July the rig was moved from Grenaa to Bergen in Norway for drydock work before transit to Egersund. Mærsk Inspirer arrived in Egersund in September and the modification work on the rig started together with the fabrication of the new wellhead module in October.

In Verdal in Norway the construction of the Caisson Permanent Support started.

Offshore at Yme: The old subsea loading system was recovered from the seabed, with parts reconditioned and reused in a new system engineered and fabricated in Bergen. Various ROV and diving vessel Campaigns were carried out to prepare the subsea installation of the Caisson Permanent Support. At the same time the original subsea control modules were recovered for upgrade and refurbishment in Stavanger and Trondheim.

Facts about Yme

The Yme field was discovered in 1987 located in Block 9/2 and 9/5 in the Egersund Basin, approximately 130 km from the Norwegian coastline. The field was in production from 1996 to 2001. The main reason for abandonment was the combination of high cost and low oil prices. Current licensees were awarded the rights to block 9/2 and 9/5 (production license 316/316B) 18 June 2004.

A Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for Yme re-development was approved by the Norwegian Government 11 May 2007. This re-development was based on a lease of a production unit (MOPU platform) that was installed summer 2011. Due to the discovery of significant structural defects on the MOPU it was removed from the field August 2016 and handed over to the platform-owner

On 19 December 2017 Repsol submitted a revised Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) of the Yme field to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. On 23 March 2018 the revised plan was approved by the Ministry.

The Yme New Development Project consists of the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of a new wellhead module on top of existing facilities at the Yme field, the modifications and upgrading of the Mærsk Inspirer Mobile Offshore Drilling and Production Unit prior to installation in the field and subsequent hook-up to existing wells in and installations on the seabed offshore. Mærsk Inspirer has previously been used for drilling and production at the Volve field.

From autumn 2018 until 29 December 2020 the Mærsk Inspirer was at the Aker Solution’s yard in Egersund for upgrading and modifications work at the yard.

The Mærsk Inspirer left the Aker Solution’s yard in Egersund on the 29 December 2020 and was successfully installed at the Yme field in the Southern North Sea on 31 December 2020.

First oil on Yme was achieved in October 2021.

On 27 October 2021, Repsol Norge AS took over the day-to-day operations of the jack-up rig Inspirer (formerly Mærsk Inspirer) from Maersk Drilling. The Yme licensees will lease the rig from Havila Sirius AS under a bareboat charter.

Licensees:

• Repsol Norge AS (55% working interest)
• Lotos Exploration and Production Norge AS (20% working interest)
• Lime Petroleum AS (10% working interest)
• OKEA AS (15% working interest)