Equinor Energy and its partners have started production from the Breidablikk field, which is being developed with an estimated investment of NOK21bn ($1.9bn) in the Norwegian North Sea.
According to Equinor, production from the offshore field has been achieved four months ahead of schedule and inside the budget.
The Breidablikk field has been developed as a subsea tie back to the Equinor-operated Grane platform. The subsea field contains nearly 200 million barrels of recoverable oil.
Equinor projects, drilling, and procurement executive vice president Geir Tungesvik said: “The project is highly profitable, provides important volumes to the market, and will create great value for Norwegian society and the owners. Nearly five million working hours have gone into the project.”
The plan for development and operation (PDO), submitted in September 2020, initially outlined the commencement of production from Breidablikk in the first half of 2024. It involved the predrilling and completion of five wells.
However, as of now, eight wells have already been drilled, and the drilling of additional wells is expected to continue on the field until the end of 2025.
The development of Breidablikk entails the drilling of 22 subsea wells distributed across four templates.
To facilitate the transportation of the well stream, pipelines and cables have been installed between the subsea facility and the modified Grane platform, which is now equipped to receive the well stream.
Equinor Energy is the operator of the field with a 39% stake. Its partners include Vår Energi (34.4%), Petoro (22.2%), and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (4.4%).
Discovered in 1992, Breidablikk is situated in the central North Sea, approximately 10km northeast of Grane, in waters reaching a depth of 130m.
Breidablikk is projected to reach its peak production levels during the 2024 to 2026 timeframe, with an estimated plateau production of 55,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.
Oil extracted from Breidablikk undergoes processing at the Grane facility and is subsequently transported via a 211km long pipeline to the Sture terminal located in Øygarden.
In the years ahead, the produced oil will contribute to approximately 15% of the total exports from the Sture terminal. The operational management of the new field will be a collaborative effort with the Grane field, overseen by Equinor’s Sandsli organisation in Bergen.
