The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate granted Equinor ASA permission to start up the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea, according to a Sept. 2 release.
The first phase of the field will start up in autumn while construction of the second phase is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2022. Equinor said the investment costs to develop the first stage are expected to come in at 83 billion Norwegian kroner.
The Johan Sverdrup field is the third-largest oil field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in reserves and is estimated to contain total recoverable reserves of about 430 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalents. It is located in blocks 16/2, 16/3, 16/5 and 16/6, 155 kilometers west of Karmøy and 40 kilometers south of the Grane field in the North Sea.
The field is operated by Equinor subsidiary Equinor Energy AS with a 42.6% stake while Lundin Petroleum AB unit Lundin Norway AS, Petoro AS, Aker BP ASA and Total SA subsidiary Total E&P Norge AS hold interest of 20%, 17.36%, 11.57% and 8.44%, respectively.
On Aug. 30, Equinor completed a swap of its 16% stake in Lundin Petroleum for an additional 2.6% interest in the Johan Sverdrup field and cash of about $650 million.
As of Aug. 30, US$1 was equivalent to 9.12 Norwegian kroner.
