Equinor ASA has received the go-ahead from the Norwegian government to proceed with the development of two fields and a well in the Norwegian Sea.
The Irpa gas field will be linked to the Aasta Hansteen production field, while the Verdande oil field and the Andvare well will be linked to the Norne field, the state-owned company said in a statement.
Discovered in 2009, Irpa has about 124 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). Expected to be drilled to about 4,429 feet, it will be the deepest field on the Norwegian continental shelf, according to the company. Irpa will be the second subsea field to be connected to the Aasta Hansteen field, about 50 miles away, extending the latter’s production life by seven years to 2039. With an investment of $1.38 billion (14.8 billion NOK), Irpa is scheduled to start in 2026.
Equinor operates the field with a 51 percent stake, while Wintershall Dea AG owns 19 percent, Petoro AS 20 percent and Norske Shell AS 10 percent.
Verdande, where two discoveries were made in 2017 and 2020, has recoverable resources of 36 million boe, mainly oil. A consortium led by Equinor Energy AS as operator with a 59.3 percent stake has committed $439.68 million (NOK 4.7 billion) in initial capital expenditure. It is expected to become operational in 2025.
The other interested parties are Petoro with 22.4 percent, Var Energi ASA with 10.5 percent, Aker BP ASA with seven percent and PGNiG Upstream Norway AS with 0.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Andvare has nearly 70.63 billion cubic feet of gas. It is scheduled to start in 2024 and has been allocated $46.77 million (NOK 500 million). In addition to Equinor Energy (53 percent), the well license holders are DNO Norge AS with a 32 percent stake and PGNiG 15 percent.
TechnipFMC PLC will deliver parts of the subsea facility for Irpa development. The contract for the platform’s gas connection has been awarded to Aibel AS, Equinor said.
Meanwhile, Verdande will extend the productive life of the Norne field by “several years”.
Most of the work for Verdande will be handled by Aibel. “Aibel will also make modifications to the FPSO [floating production storage and offloading] related to Andvare, a well that will be drilled as a lateral to one of the existing subsea templates in the Norne field,” the announcement said.
Alternative to Russia
Equinor hopes to take advantage of the “current geopolitical situation” with the new projects, senior vice president of project development Trond Bokn said in the announcement. Irpa’s gas volumes could supply 2.3 million UK homes for seven years, Equinor said, while the field is also earmarked for export to other parts of Europe.
“The gas will be phased into the existing Aasta Hansteen infrastructure and transported via Polarled to the Nyhamna processing plant. From there, the gas will be transported via the Langeled pipeline system to the UK and Mainland customers,” the media release said.
Norway has been looking to take advantage of the shift in gas trade as the European Union works to disengage from Russian energy. In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has decided to phase out Russia’s fossil fuels by 2027 and on 18 May 2022 launched REPowerEU outlining strategies to achieve this goal.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said in a press release last week: “A high level of activity contributes to strengthening Norway’s role as a secure and stable energy supplier to Europe.”
18 exploration wells have been drilled in Norway so far this year, with seven profitable discoveries. “The discoveries total between 9 and 32 million Sm3 [standard cubic meters] oil equivalent,” the regulator said Friday. In the first five months, production topped 1.78 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, nearly 1.52 Tcf of oil and 194.23 million cubic feet of gas liquids, according to the NPD.
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