Green light for $1.8 billion oil redevelopment in Norwegian waters

December 16, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, a subsidiary of the U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips, and its partners, Vår Energi, Orlen Upstream Norway, and Petoro, have sanctioned a project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) that aims to extend the life of the Greater Ekofisk Area (GEA) through the redevelopment of previously produced fields (PPF) to enhance production capabilities and ensure long-term value creation off the coast of Norway.

In an attempt to strengthen production life of the Greater Ekofisk Area, the joint venture partners took a final investment decision (FID) for the Previously Produced Fields (PPF) redevelopment project, which is anticipated to add high value barrels from 2028 onward.

The project, operated by ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, is a joint redevelopment of the three previously produced fields, Albuskjell and Vest Ekofisk in licenses PL018B/F and Tommeliten Gamma in licenses PL044/D, with recoverable gas condensate resources estimated at 90 to 120 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

The three fields were shut in before end-of-life in 1998 due to decommissioning of infrastructure and limited processing capacity at Ekofisk. This re-development of the gas condensate fields is enabled through better well placement and the use of horizontal well technology allowing for better reservoir exposure and production rates.

Plans for development and operation (PDOs) will be submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Energy in Q1 2026. The project’s capital investment is approximately NOK 14 billion (gross $1.3 billion) for PL018B/F and approximately NOK 5.5 billion (gross $500 million) for PL044/D.

The joint development concept entails 11 wells and four new subsea templates, all tied back to the Ekofisk Complex via a shared multiphase pipeline, with first gas scheduled for Q4 2028. Following submission of PDOs, the PPF project is subject to final regulatory approvals.

Steinar Våge, President of Europe, Middle East and Africa for ConocoPhillips, commented: “Our focus is on projects with low cost of supply and increased gas delivery to Europe. We are advancing our near-field resource strategy with subsea developments in the GEA, and we value our license partners’ support for the PPF project.”

The capacity is expected to become available in the late 2020s, enabling future gas production from these fields. ConocoPhillips operates both licenses and its ownership post transactions will be 35.1% interest in PL018B/F and 28.3% interest in PL044/D.

Other partners encompass Vår Energi (52.3% in PL018B/F and 9.1% in PL044/D), Orlen Upstream Norway (7.6% in PL018B/F and 62.6% in PL044/D), and Petoro (5% in PL018B/F). Vår Energi recently set out to acquire TotalEnergies’ interest in the production licenses PL018B/F, increasing its ownership to around 52%.

Torger Rød, Vår Energi’s COO, underlined: “The PPF project is an important development that supports Vår Energi’s plan to sustain production of 350 to 400 thousand barrel of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) towards 2030 and beyond.

“This reinforces our focused strategy by consolidating our position in the Greater Ekofisk Area and securing low-cost reserves with strong upside potential, enhancing long-term value creation.”