Valhall's budget balloons for BP

By Beate Schjolberg Oslo

 16 October 2009 01:40 GMT

Costs for BP’s plans to extend the life of the Norwegian Valhall field have ballooned by Nkr11.8 billion ($2.1 billion), a 51% increase on the budget from two years ago.

Other Norwegian projects including Talisman’s Yme redevelopment and StatoilHydro’s Gjoa have also seen costs climb in the past year, Norway’s Energy Ministry said this week in its 2010 budget bill.

The Valhall project, which includes a new field centre with power supply from the mainland, various upgrades and drilling through 2028, is now expected to cost about Nkr35.1 billion, up from Nkr23.2 billion when it was approved in 2007.

The bulk of the increase is due to higher investments over the next couple of decades, including more wells than previously expected, higher drilling…

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