Equinor expects the production capacity of the Johan Sverdrup field, offshore Norway, to go up to 755 thousand barrels of oil per day (Mbopd) after the phase 2 development is on stream.
The increased production capacity from the original estimate of 720Mbopd will also be due to an improvement in full field economics, said the company’s partner Lundin Energy.
Equinor said that further improvements at the Johan Sverdrup project in the North Sea decreases the break-even price for the full field by 25% to $15/bbl. It was earlier less than $20/bbl.
According to Lundin Energy, the phase 2 project has seen further progress with the installation of jacket, which was delivered earlier this month by Aker Solutions.
Besides, the second processing platform of the project has been fully assembled in Norway. Lundin Energy said that completion activities are going on ahead of the scheduled offshore installation in Q2 2022.
The Swedish oil and gas company said that phase 2 development of the Johan Sverdrup field continues to be on schedule with the first oil expected to be drawn in Q4 2022.
The company also disclosed that the costs of the phase 2 project remain the same from the plan for development and operation (PDO) estimate of NOK41bn ($4.92bn).
The Johan Sverdrup phase 2 PDO was approved in May 2019. At that time, it was envisioned that the phase 2 development will provide an additional production capacity of 220,000 barrels of oil per day to the project partners.
The North Sea field was inaugurated by Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in January 2020. Production from the phase 1 development began in October 2019.
Equinor holds an operating stake of 42.6% stake in the Johan Sverdrup field, while Lundin Energy through its Norwegian subsidiary has a 20% stake. The other partners in the project are Petoro (17.36%), Aker BP (11.57%), and Total (8.44%).
