Page 14 - EurOil Week 25

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

Norwegian firms push on

despite downturn

NORWAY NORWEGIAN oil firms Aker BP and Equinor and subsea installation at a trio of projects off
are pushing ahead with further development Norway. It estimates the value of the deals at
Aker BP and Equinor plans, after Norway’s government earlier this NOK1.8bn ($190mn).
continue to announce month provided $11bn in tax relief for the The two contracts are for work at the Breidab-
new contract and industry. likk oil discovery and the Snorre gas import
investments. Aker BP said on June 24 it had submitted system, while the LoI covers the Askeladd Vest
plans with Norway’s petroleum ministry to gas project. The contract at Breidablikk has an
revamp the Hod oilfield at a cost of $600mn. Pro- option for subsea installation.
duction is due to start up in the first quarter of “Giving three assignments to the same sup-
2022, with an extra 40mn barrels of oil expected plier enables efficiency gains and cost savings,”
to be recovered thanks to the new investment. Equinor’s chief procurement officer, Peggy
“With projects like Hod, we are creating sig- Krantz-Underland, commented. “It will also
nificant value both for our owners and for the allow for a co-ordinated follow-up of the total
society at large, while we contribute to maintain- delivery during the implementation phase. This
ing the capabilities of Norway’s world-class sup- creates value for all parties.”
ply industry,” Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik The Snorre import system entails the con-
said in a statement. struction of a new 24-km pipeline between the
Hod was the first field to be developed in Gullfaks and Snorre fields in the North Sea, as
Norway using an unmanned platform, entering part of an expansion project underway at the
production in 1990. That platform is no longer latter project. The pipeline will supply gas to bol-
in service and is due to be removed after its wells ster pressure at Snorre. Equinor’s partners are
have been permanently plugged. Norway’s Petoro, Eni-owned Var Energi, Japan’s
The plan is to use a new unmanned facility, Idemitsu Petroleum and Germany’s Wintershall
Hod B, controlled remotely from the nearby Val- Dea.
hall field centre, to extract the field’s remaining At Breidablikk, the plan is to produce oil
resources. The platform will be powered from using a tieback to the Grane platform. Equinor
the shore via Valhall, meaning it will produce and its partners Petoro, Var Energi and US major
virtually zero CO2 emissions. ConocoPhillips aim to take a final investment
Aker BP is partnered at Hod with Norway’s decision (FID) on the scheme later this year.
Pandion Energy. After the oil price crash the Equinor, Wintershall, France’s Total and the UK’s
pair shelved the project, only to revive it after the Neptune Energy also expect in 2020 to green-
tax support was announced. Oil services firm light Askeladd Vest, whose gas will be developed
Kvaerner secured a $106mn contract this month with a tieback to templates at the Askeladd field.
to build Hod’s new platform. Earlier this month Equinor signed off on a
NOK1.5bn investment to connect its offshore
Equinor installations at the Gina Krog and Sleipner
Meanwhile, Equinor has awarded two contracts fields to the onshore grid, reducing their carbon
and issued a letter of intent (LoI) to interna- emissions. It cited the tax reforms as a key factor
tional contractor TechnipFMC for pipelaying behind its decision. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 25•June•2020