Page 13 - EurOil Week 27 2021

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Martin Linge field finally

enters production

NORWAY NORWAY’S Equinor has at long last commis- “It has been a very demanding job, and more
sioned the Martin Linge gas field, a troubled pro- challenging than expected, but we have reached
The launch draws a line ject that has arrived five years behind schedule the finish line together with our suppliers and
under a long history of and at double its original cost. our partner Petoro,” Equinor’s vice-president for
delays, mishaps and Equinor announced the launch on June 30, projects, drilling and procurement, Arne Sigve
cost overruns. estimating that the North Sea field would flow Nylund, commented. “Martin Linge will now
115,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). produce and create jobs and value for society for
Some 260mn boe will be recovered in total dur- many years ahead.”
ing its lifetime. Linge’s gas will flow via a new pipeline to
Linge was originally led by Total, now known shore at St Fergus, on the Scottish coast, while
as TotalEnergies. The French major had sought its crude will be sent to a permanently anchored
to bring it into production in 2016, and there storage vessel and shuttled off to market.
were a number of reasons for the subsequent Like many of Equinor’s new projects, Linge
delays. First, there was the geological complex- will be electrified with power from shore, reduc-
ity of the high pressure, high temperature field, ing its emissions, via a 163-km cable. Production
which led to TotalEnergies encountering unex- wells and the processing plant are operated from
pected difficulties. a control room in Stavanger and offshore oper-
Then in May 2017, there was a fatal crane ators use tablets in the field to work with their
crash at the Samsung Heavy Industries ship- colleagues onshore.
yard in South Korea tasked with constructing Linge’s launch comes amid a number of oper-
its platform, resulting in another one-year ational setbacks for Equinor, tarnishing its track
delay. record for project delivery and oversight. Two
Equinor took over as operator the following serious fires have occurred at its facilities in the
the year. More delays ensued, most significantly past year – one at the Hammerfest LNG plant
as a result of the pandemic, which brought pro- and one at a methanol facility in Tjeldbergodden.
ject work to a halt. It also found problems with In both cases Equinor was found to be in breach
the wells that had previously been drilled by of safety regulations. There have also been delays
TotalEnergies and they had to be replaced. Over- and cost overruns at the Johan Castberg oilfield
all costs are now assessed at nearly NOK63bn in the Barents Sea and the Njord Future project
($7.3bn), Equinor said on June 30, or around in the Norwegian Sea.
double what was stated in the original budget in Equinor operates the Linge field with a 70%
2012. interest, while Petoro has 30%. ™

Week 27 08•July•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13