Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Marte Mjøs Persen, will Thursday officially open the Martin Linge field, located in the North Sea, offshore Norway.
As previously reported, the field came on stream in June 2021, after years of delays, and hefty cost overruns.
"With good operational performance since the field came on stream in June and high oil and gas prices, the investments in the field are expected to be recovered in full during 2022," Equinor said Thursday.
"Martin Linge has been a very challenging project to put on stream. Thanks to competent colleagues, good suppliers, and good collaboration with our partner Petoro and the authorities, the field was efficiently and safely put on stream last year. The field is now producing very efficiently. With current prices, investments in the field will be recovered in full during 2022,” says Anders Opedal, president and CEO of Equinor.
According to Equinor, since production started June 30, 2021, Martin Linge has delivered "world-class" production efficiency for a new field in the start-up phase.
"I would like to thank the project and the organization now operating the field for working hard to realize the project, and to deliver safe and efficient field operations every day,” says Kjetil Hove, executive vice president, Exploration & Production Norway.
The Martin Linge project faced significant challenges in the development phase.
Per Equiunor, capital expenditures in the Martin Linge field totaled NOK 63 billion, compared with NOK 31.5 billion in the plan for development and operation (PDO) from 2012. Equinor took over the operatorship from Total in 2018.
The expected recoverable resources from the field are about 260 million barrels of oil equivalent. At plateau, the field will produce around 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent, mainly gas and condensate. The field is expected to reach plateau production during 2022.
Martin Linge is the first platform to be put on stream by Equinor from an onshore control room. The wells and the process are operated from the control room in Stavanger. The offshore operators use tablets in the field to collaborate with the onshore control room and the operations teams onshore.
"Digital solutions provide early indications of potential failures in the facilities, enabling reduced operational costs and optimization of energy consumption," Equinor said.
Also, due to power from shore, the emissions from the field are low (about 1 kg of CO2 per barrel).