Equinor set for third capacity increase at Johan Sverdrup

Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor is expecting a third capacity increase at its operated Johan Sverdrup field offshore Norway.

Equinor said on Thursday that the Johan Sverdrup field is expected to increase its daily production capacity up to 535,000 barrels of oil by mid-2021.

This is around 100,000 barrels more than the original basis at start-up in October 2019.

Equinor and its partners tested the plant capacity in November 2020 to verify a possible production rise. Rates up to 535,000 barrels of oil per day were tested.

The capacity increase depends on water-injection, which is planned for this year.

“This increase is possible because the field production has been very good and stable from day one, and the wells have produced even better than expected”, said Rune Nedregaard, vice president for Johan Sverdrup operations.

This will be the third capacity increase since the field came on stream October 2019.

The Johan Sverdrup field is powered from shore with very low CO2 emissions per barrel. In 2020 one barrel of oil produced at the field emitted below 0.2 kg CO2 – almost 100 times lower than the global average. Emissions during the field life are estimated at less than 0.7kg CO2 per produced barrel.

The barrels from Johan Sverdrup is of high value with a break-even below $20 per barrel for the full field development.

Partners in the field are Equinor: 42.6% (operator), Lundin Energy Norway: 20%, Petoro: 17.36%, Aker BP: 11.5733% and Total: 8.44%.