Equinor gets government okay for NOK 20bn of projects
Norwegian major Equinor said June 28 three of its Norwegian Sea oil and gas projects were part of the NOK 200bn (US$18.5bn) worth of investments approved by the government for development on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Approved were plans to develop the Irpa gas field, in 1,350 metres of water some 340 km west of Bodo and tied back to Aasta Hansteen, the Verdande oil discovery southwest of Bodo, which will be tied back to the Norne field, and a gas production well, Andvare, which will be drilled as a sidetrack from an existing subsea template at Norne.
Total capital expenditures for the three projects have been estimated at NOK 20bn (US$1.85bn).
“We are experiencing a strong demand for oil and gas from the Norwegian continental shelf in the current geopolitical situation,” said Trond Bokn, Equinor’s senior vice president for project development. “By utilising the Aasta Hansteen and Norne infrastructures, these development projects will quickly bring new production to market with low development costs, while extending the activity on the host platforms.”
Irpa was discovered in 2009 by Equinor (51%) and partners Wintershall DEA (19%), Petoro (20%) and Shell’s Norwegian subsidiary (10%). It contains a recoverable resource of about 20bn m3 of gas and a small amount of condensate.
Capital expenditures are estimated at NOK 14.8bn, with a planned start-up in Q4 2026.
Verdande consists of the Cape Vulture and Alve Northeast discoveries made in 2017 and 2020 by a group led by Equinor (59.3%) and including Petoro AS, Var Energi ASA, Aker BP ASA and PGNIG Upstream Norway AS.
Recoverable reserves have been estimated at about 36mn barrels of oil equivalent, and the NOK 4.7bn development is targeted for start-up in Q4 2025.
The NOK 500mn Andvare sidetrack well will be drilled in 2024 by Equinor (53%) and partners DNO Norge AS (32%) and PGNiG Upstream Norway AS (15%). It will access recoverable reserves estimated at just under 2bn m3 of natural gas.
In addition to the three operated projects approved by the government, Equinor is a non-operating partner in the approved Yggdrasil, Berling, Skarv Satellitter and Symra projects.