Norway gives nod for giant offshore oil field start-up

The Norwegian oil and gas regulator has given its approval to Equinor for the start-up the giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Equinor plans to start production from the first phase of the field sometime this autumn.

“The Johan Sverdrup field is a shining example of the possibilities and the values that can be achieved through exploration of mature petroleum provinces on the shelf,” says Ingrid Sølvberg, Director Development and operations in the NPD.

NPD has said that Johan Sverdrup is the third-largest oil field on the Norwegian shelf, with only Statfjord and Ekofisk, being larger. The Johan Sverdrup field, located 55 kilometers west of Karmøy and 40 kilometers south of the Grane field, is expected to produce for forty years.

According to Equinor, cited by NPD, investment costs for development of the first phase are expected to be NOK 83 billion (~USD 9,1 billion).

Estimates indicate that the total recoverable reserves are about 430 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalents (2.7 billion barrels o.e.)

About 95 per cent of this is oil, 3 per cent is dry gas and the rest is NGL (Natural Gas Liquids). The field has a production capacity of 105 000 cubic meters of oil per day (660 000 bbls per day).

The Johan Sverdrup development is being implemented in two phases. The first stage includes a field center with four installations connected by bridges. The four installations are a living quarters platform with auxiliary systems, a process platform, a drilling platform, and a riser platform.

Pipelines for transporting oil and gas, the power from shore unit and three subsea templates for water injection are linked to the riser platform.

The second phase consists of an expansion of the field center with a new process platform, five subsea templates connected to the field center, and development of the outer areas of the reservoir.

Further development of central areas is also planned through additional wells from the drilling platform.

Electric power for normal operation of the Johan Sverdrup field will be supplied from the land-based grid. Gas and stabilized oil will be transported through a gas pipeline to Statpipe and an oil pipeline to Mongstad, north of Bergen.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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