WATCH: Pioneering Spirit vessel installs final Sverdrup platform

Norway’s Equinor has installed the fifth and final platform at the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea. The platform was installed using the Allseas-owned and world’s largest heavy-lift vessel, Pioneering Spirit.

Earlier this month, Norwegian contractor Aibel completed and delivered the second processing platform (P2) for the Equinor-operated Johan Sverdrup project, which is Norway’s third-largest oil field ever. This delivery was Aibel’s largest ever made.

Following the completion and delivery, the platform was towed to Digernessundet. After that, the Pioneering Spirit lifted the platform off the barge and brought it to the Johan Sverdrup field, located on the Utsira Height in the North Sea, 160 kilometres west of Stavanger.

The jacket and the new module on the existing riser platform for the Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 development were installed in 2021. Phase 2 of the project is supposed to capture the full potential of this huge oilfield. The P2 platform has now been installed with the Pioneering Spirit in a single lift operation.

Lundin, Equinor’s partner in the project, said on Wednesday that the remaining work for the Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 development includes hook-up and commissioning of the P2 platform, completion of the subsea facilities and flowlines installation and drilling of the development wells, which are progressing to schedule.

In June 2021, Lundin announced that the full field gross processing capacity will be increased to 755 Mbopd once Phase 2 comes on stream, which remains on schedule for the fourth quarter of 2022.