Plans call for the Johan Sverdrup field to start up in November this year. To ensure synergies, continuity and a coherent field development, Equinor and the Johan Sverdrup partners are awarding the contract for the subsea production system for phase two now. Production start of phase 2 is scheduled for Q4 2022.

The beginning of the installation campaign for the topsides for both the processing platform and the utility and living quarters platform is planned in the next few days, Equinor said. Once completed all four platforms in the first phase of the development will be in place at the field 160 km west of Stavanger.

Johan Sverdrup is "the biggest ongoing industrial project in Norway, where domestic suppliers have secured more than 70% of the Johan Sverdrup contracts, and this award further increases this share, demonstrating their ability to change and their competitiveness,” said chief procurement officer Peggy Krantz-Underland.

The contracts are subject to approval of the plan for development and operation (PDO) for Johan Sverdrup phase 2, which was submitted to the authorities in August 2018. 

With expected resources of between 2.1bn and 3.1bn barrels of oil equivalent, it will be one of the most important industrial projects in Norway in the next 50 years, Equinor said. At peak, oil and gas worth more than Nkr 350mn ($44mn) will pass daily through the platform at $70/barrel and a production of 660,000 b/day, Equinor said when the riser platform was installed last April.

The partners are Equinor (40.0267%), Lundin (22.6%), Petoro (17.36%), Aker BP (11.5733%) and Total (8.44%).