Equinor Submits Plan for Norway's Eirin Field

Equinor ASA has submitted its development plan for the Eirin field to the Norwegian Petroleum and Energy Ministry, expecting to recover 27.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), mainly gas, in the North Sea project. 

With investments of $372.58 million (over NOK 4 billion), Eirin is planned to be a subsea facility tied to the already operational Gina Krog field production platform, the majority state-owned company said in a recent press release. The pending project would extend the platform's life from 2029 to 2036, according to Equinor, which targets to put Eirin onstream as early as 2025. 

"Utilizing Gina Krog’s infrastructure will enable Eirin to bring new gas to Europe fast, with good profitability and low CO2 emissions from production", Camilla Salthe, senior vice-president for field life extension at Equinor, said in a statement. Production emissions from the pending project will be low at three kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) per barrel of oil equivalent as Gina Krog has already been electrified and the processing platform Sleipner A has also been partially electrified, according to Equinor. 

Equinor noted Gina Krog made a key contribution to Norwegian gas exports to Europe during the 2021 energy crisis. "Increased gas export from Gina Krog, by exporting gas that was previously injected to improve oil recovery, was an important contribution. At the same time, this brought the need to accelerate projects to extend the field life", it said in the news release. 

With estimated resources of 225 million barrels of oil and gas, Gina Krog started production June 2017 after being stalled several times since the first discovery 1974, according to information on Equinor's website.  

Ketil Rongved, vice-president for field life extension projects at Equinor, added, "Extending Gina Krog’s productive life also gives us the opportunity to mature additional new reserves in the area". 

"We’re still seeing possibilities for new discoveries, which is why Eirin’s new subsea facility will enable tie-in of new fields", Rongved highlighted. 

Proven 1978, Eirin had been stalled as part of the Gina Krog field. Now that it has moved toward development, Equinor plans to expand it with two to four new wells, according to the media release. 

Equinor plans to build a pipeline to carry Eirin gas from Gina Krog for further processing at the Sleipner A facility, from which the output would be exported to the market.  

Besides Eirin, a new drilling campaign is planned for Gina Krog this year, according to information on the government website Norskpetroleum.no. 

Equinor operates Eirin with a 78.2 percent stake while KUFPEC Norway AS holds the remaining 21.8 percent. KUFPEC Norway is a subsidiary of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. 

Earlier this year Equinor received approval for oil and gas development projects in the Irpa and Verdande fields and the Andvare well, all in the Norwegian Sea. Irpa holds recoverable resources of about 124 MMboe, including 20 billion standard cubic meters (706.29 billion cubic feet) of gas. Verdande has shown recoverable resources of 36 MMboe, mostly oil. Andvare holds just under two billion cubic meters (70.63 billion cubic feet) of gas, according to Equinor. 

"We are experiencing a strong demand for oil and gas from the Norwegian continental shelf in the current geopolitical situation. By utilizing the Aasta Hansteen and Norne infrastructures, these development projects will quickly bring new production to market with low development costs, while extending the activity on the host platforms", Trond Bokn, senior vice-president for project development at Equinor, said in a press release June 28 announcing the green light for the three projects from the government. 

Equinor plans to start up Andvare 2024, Verdande 2025 and Irpa 2026, according to information on its website. 

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