Norway Approves Martin Linge Development Plan

The Norwegian Government on Friday (March 30) approved the development plan for the Martin Linge gas field. Until now the licensees have referred to the field as Hild. Located in the northern part of the North Sea, the field is about 150 kilometres west of Kollsnes.

Total investments in the development amount to about NOK 26 billion (US$4.2 billion), with recoverable reserves in the field estimated at 189 million barrels of oil equivalents. The proposition will now be sent to the Storting, Norway’s national assembly.

“The Martin Linge field was discovered as early as 1978. It is gratifying that the field has now matured to enable profitable development. The industry must be able to mature resources like this if we are to keep production levels up in coming years,” says Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe.

The field will be developed with an installation resting on the seabed. The gas will be exported via the UK pipeline system, while the oil will be processed and stored on a storage ship. The development solution the operator has chosen is based on power from land from Kollsnes.

“The plans for the Martin Linge field show that power from land can be appropriate for new, independent developments. With this development, CO2 emissions from the Norwegian shelf will also be lower than they otherwise would have been,” says Borten Moe.

The licensees in the Martin Linge development are Total E&P Norge AS (51%), Petoro AS (30%) and Statoil Petroleum AS (19%).

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Source: Regjeringen, April 2, 2012; Image: Total