Okea is looking at a possible copy of the mobile offshore production unit solution being used at the Yme field as one of two options to develop its debut operated field project off Norway in the form of the Grevling and Storskrymten discoveries.

A jack-up mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) is being considered by the Norwegian player, along with reuse of an existing floating production, storage and offloading vessel, for the nascent scheme.

The MOPU would be similar to adapted drilling rig Maersk Inspirer, which is undergoing conversion at Aker Solutions’ Egersund yard for use as a production unit at Yme in the North Sea. Yme is being redeveloped by operator Repsol with Okea as a partner.

Okea said in its third-quarter financial report that the licence partnership has agreed a work programme and budget to mature the two concepts ahead of a decision on one of them in the first quarter of 2020.

The Trondheim-based independent is targeting its first operated development, with the proposed project to tap an estimated 200 million barrels of oil equivalent at the finds in North Sea production licence 038D, where it is partnered by Chrysaor and Petoro.

Okea chief executive Erik Haugane said earlier this year that Grevling is “a much better development story” than Yme, which holds around 65 million boe in recoverable resources and is due on stream in the second quarter of next year.

The operator is considering a similar development solution for Grevling to that conceived for Yme, namely a simplified production unit based on a converted jack-up “or something even simpler”, with the possibility that it could be unmanned and the concept replicated for other fields, according to Haugane.

He said break-even costs have been cut to around $43 per barrel from an original estimate of $70, with the company in dialogue with potential suppliers to find a commercially viable solution to de-risk the scheme.

“We are still working on the reservoir as well as bringing down development and operational costs to gain a window where we can make a decision towards development,” he said.

“It is a complex reservoir and we have to protect the downside in order to move forward.”

Okea said energy supply from Equinor’s Sleipner platform, which is now set to be included in an electrification solution for the Utsira High area, was “a key factor” for development of Grevling and Storskrymten.

The company meanwhile reported a wider net loss of Nkr77 million ($8.5 million) in the third quarter, compared with Nkr64 million a year ago, despite seeing significantly higher output after its acquisitions of an operated stake in the Draugen field and interest in the Gjoa field from Shell.

While revenue increased to Nkr612 million in the third quarter from Nkr22 million a year earlier, Okea’s bottom line was hit by hefty depreciation of Nkr177 million on the pair of field assets as well as higher exploration costs.

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Okea eyes Yme-type MOPU for Grevling