Equinor has agreed to acquire Sval Energi’s 11.8% stake in the ongoing subsea development Halten East Unit in the Norwegian Sea.
Located in the Kristin-Åsgård area, the Halten East project includes six gas discoveries, namely Gamma, Harepus, Flyndretind, Nona, Sigrid and Natalia as well as three prospects.
Tied back to the Åsgard facilities, the Halten East development includes the installation of three subsea templates in the south, and two subsea templates in the north.
The development will utilise existing infrastructure and processing capacity at Åsgard B, with plans to begin production next year. The Halten East is at a water depth of 240-300m.
The southern structures of the Halten East project will be tied in to a 49km pipeline from Mikkel South to Åsgard subsea compressor manifold station (SCMS) while the northern structure will be tied into a 22km pipeline from Natalia to SCMS.
Recoverable reserves in the Halten East field are estimated to be around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), approximately 60% of which is gas slated for export to Europe through the Kårstø processing facility in the south-west Norway.
Sval Energi CEO Halvor Engebretsen said: “We are pleased with this deal as it supports our ongoing efforts to optimize our portfolio. This allows us to exit a development asset in a non-core area on the Norwegian shelf for Sval.”
The project development will proceed in two phases. The first phase, scheduled for 2024-25, involves drilling six wells across five discoveries.
A second phase, planned for 2029, will include a sidetrack to one discovery and the potential drilling of three additional wells.
Equinor exploration and production north senior vice president Grete Haaland said: “Halten East is an important project with strong profitability and low emissions, in a core area for Equinor. The transaction is in line with our strategy of optimising our portfolio on the Norwegian continental shelf to ensure long-term value creation.”
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approved the project’s plan for development and operation (PDO) in May 2022.
The transaction will bring Equinor’s total ownership in the offshore project to 69.5%. Other partners in the Halten East field are Vår Energi, and Petoro with interests of 24.6% and 5.9%, respectively.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction has an effective date of 1 January 2024.
