Equinor selects subsea concept for stranded Norwegian assets

Norway’s Equinor and its partners have selected a concept for developing six discoveries in a joint unitisation project on Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea.

Equinor is the operator of the Haltenbanken East development with a 57.7 per cent interest and its partners are Spirit Energy with an 11.8 per cent working interest, Vår Energi with a 24.6 per cent, and Petoro with a 5.9 per cent interest.

Spirit Energy revealed on Wednesday that the concept has been selected and it is a subsea tie-back to the Åsgard B platform, utilising existing facilities and infrastructure.

Åsgard B is a semi-submersible gas and condensate processing platform, which is part of the Åsgard field, one of the largest developments on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Aker Solutions has recently won a substantial contract from Equinor for modifications on the Åsgard B platform to enable increased production from the Smørbukk reservoir.

According to Spirit, the Haltenbanken East project will be developed as a unit between four different licences and comprises six discoveries and three prospects with a combined volume in the order of 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), mostly gas.

Gunn Gadeholt, Asset Manager at Spirit Energy, said: “These discoveries were basically considered stranded assets – it would not have been economically viable to develop any of them on their own. The unitisation approach will unlock the potential and deliver value both in the development- and production phases of the project. It’s a smart solution that we and our partners can be proud of”.

The Equinor-operated project is planned to be executed in two phases. The first will consist of drilling of six wells to five of the discoveries. The second phase includes the last discovery and three prospects, planned to be drilled as side-tracks from existing wells.

The submission of a Plan for Development and Operations (PDO) to the Norwegian authorities is scheduled in the second half of 2022.

Gadeholt added: “Haltenbanken East delivers robust economics and is a good strategic fit for Spirit Energy. The objective of the next project phase is to mature the project towards a final investment decision (DG3) in the first half of 2022”.