The Varg Field was discovered in 1984 and put on production in 1998. The initial field development was challenging due to complex faulting and compartmentalization (Fig. 1), several isolated structures and poor-quality seismic related to the presence of salt and chalk. As a result, the expected plateau rate was never reached. By 2002 water-cut had increased rapidly and production had declined, and the decision was taken to decommission the field.

However, the license was acquired by Petra who commissioned a new multi-azimuth 3-D seismic survey, which was merged with existing data and identified infill wells. This enabled further development of the Varg Field:

• 5 producers and 2 injectors were drilled by 2004.
• 4 wells and a water injector were drilled, and a producer was converted to a gas injector in 2005.
• A further 5 producers, 1 injector and 4 infill wells were drilled between 2006-12.
• Two appraisal wells were converted to producers in 2006-07.
• WAG injection began in 2011.
• Gas blowdown began in 2013.

These field developments halted the decline in production, increasing it from 13,514 BOPD in 2002 to ~22,080 BOPD in 2005. After a further decline in production in 2008 to 12,086 BOPD, new wells encountered 150m of net pay and increased production to a secondary peak of 24,475 BOPD in 2010, increasing EUR to 95MMBO. Unfortunately, from 2010 production began to decline and after additional implementation of IOR methods at well scale, the field became uneconomic, and it was finally decommissioned in 2016. Despite almost being decommissioned in 2002 the re-development of the Varg field proved successful, with 14 years of further production.

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