Equinor has submitted plans to press ahead with the £385m Verdande oilfield in Norway.
Located around 185 miles south-west of the town of Bodo in Northern Norway, the Norne FPSO will produce the field, with first oil expected in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Verdande comprises the Cape Vulture and Alve North-East discoveries, with 36.3 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent according to Equinor.
The oil firm is investing NOK 4.7bn (£385m) and said nearly 1,300 full time equivalent jobs will be supported over three years of development between 2023 – 2025, according to a Bodo Science Park study.
It also will extend the life of the Norne FPSO beyond 2026, which has been producing in the region for more than 25 years.
The development solution consists of a subsea template tied back to the Norne vessel via a new tubing. The oil will be lifted by a tanker and the gas will be piped via Åsgard Transport to Kårstø.
Drilling is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The plan for development and operation (PDO) for Verdande has been submitted to Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
The field name comes from Norse mythology; Verdande is one of the three Norns, the Fates, who spin the threads of fate for humans and gods at the foot of Yggdrasil.
Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s executive vice president for Projects, Drilling & Procurement, said: “Verdande will provide important local and regional ripple effects. It will also help meet the energy demanded by European customers.
“Based on the ripple effect study and our own calculations Verdande will be a socio-economically profitable and economically viable project. Not least, it will contribute to increased energy efficiency for Norne.”
Equinor is operator with a 59.3% stake, partnered with Petoro AS (22.4 %), Vår Energi ASA (10.5 %), Aker BP ASA (7.0 %), and PGNIG Upstream Norway AS (0.8 %).
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