Norway's Giant Offshore Oil Field Fully Developed

The Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has brought online the second phase of the giant Johan Sverdrup oil field in the North Sea, off Norway. Production started at 11:15 a.m. local time, on Wednesday, December 15.

At plateau, the Johan Sverdrup field will produce 720,000 barrels of oil daily, aiming to rise to 755,000 barrels per day. Recoverable volumes in the Johan Sverdrup field total 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

"Johan Sverdrup alone can thus meet 6-7 percent of the daily oil demand in Europe.[...] When the Johan Sverdrup field reaches plateau production, every third Norwegian oil barrel will come from this giant field, which for decades will be essential to ensuring high and stable energy deliveries from Norway," Equinor said.

The Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 project includes a new platform, five new subsea systems, 28 new wells, a new module for the existing riser platform, and facilities to send power from shore to the Utsira High area.

The full-field development of Johan Sverdrup has a break-even price of less than USD 15 per barrel.

Power from shore 

The Johan Sverdrup field receives power from the shore through cables from Haugsneset, north of Stavanger. The first cable currently supplies the first four platforms on the Johan Sverdrup field with electricity. The new cable supplies the fifth platform and the rest of the Utsire High installations.

Marianne M. Bjelland, vice president, exploration and production, the Johan Sverdrup and Martin Linge areas said:"In combination, this reduces CO2 emissions by a total of 1.2 million tonnes per year, equivalent to 2,5 percent of Norway’s annual emissions. Electrification is an important measure to further developing the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) towards the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."

The [first phase] of Johan Sverdrup has been in stable production for more than three years, Equinor said.

Equinor is the operator of the field with a 42.6267% stake. Partners are Aker BP 31.5733%, Petoro AS 17.36%, and TotalEnergies EP Norge AS with 8.44%.