North Sea operator steps up oil project’s game with boost in production and reserves

October 7, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Norwegian upstream oil and gas player Vår Energi has ramped up its production level and reserves from a field in the North Sea by bringing online a new low-pressure project off the coast of Norway.

While disclosing an increase in production and recoverable volumes from the Gjøa field in PL153, Vår Energi has explained that the ramp-up is the result of the Gjøa low-pressure project now being on stream. The project, which modified the compressor systems on the Gjøa platform, has enabled the wells to produce longer and at higher rates.

While the concept select studies were performed by Aker Solutions, the project was executed by Rosenberg Worley. The low-pressure production began in September. Partners in the Gjøa license (PL153) are Vår Energi (operator with 30%), Petoro (30%), Harbour Energy Norge (28%), and OKEA (12%).

The operator elaborates that platform modifications, which enable flexible operations, are designed to enhance production from all related producing fields. The work was conducted as part of a planned maintenance shutdown to minimize impact on daily operations. The production from the Gjøa field increased by 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) from 35 kboepd to 41 kboepd (gross).

In light of this, the remaining recoverable volumes increased by 6.3 million boe, representing around a 25% uptick, enabling the low-pressure project to extend the economic production life of Gjøa by two to three years with a payback period of less than six months.

Torger Rød, COO of Vår Energi, commented: “By using off-the-shelf technology, we are not only boosting production and remaining recoverable volumes from the Gjøa field, we are also prolonging the economic lifetime of the other producing fields Duva, Vega and Nova that are tied into the Gjøa platform.

“This is a win-win situation for the producing fields and the development projects in the Greater Gjøa area.”

TechnipFMC and Vår Energi agreed earlier this year on a model to be used in bringing online subsea hydrocarbon developments in the Gjøa area of the North Sea, situated about 80 kilometers southwest of Florø.

TechnipFMC and Vår Energi chart a way forward for ‘faster’ North Sea oil & gas developments

Collaboration

The Cerisa discovery, which was included in the Gjøa North and Ofelia/Kyrre project team to fast-track production from these discoveries, is expected to help Vår Energi up its production ante.

Recently, the company reported another key step in the ongoing development of the Balder field in the Barents Sea to unlock high-value barrels that will allow production to continue toward 2045 and beyond, following a higher-than-expected production level of 400 kbpoed.