Page 11 - GLNG Week 50 2022
P. 11
GLNG EUROPE GLNG
Equinor brings
more gas to
Hammerfest LNG
TERMINALS NORWAY’S Equinor has commissioned the “Askeladd and other projects in the region will
first phase of the Askeladd natural gas field, the ensure further value creation and production
company said on December 12, with flows now from HLNG for decades.”
heading to the Hammerfest LNG facility on The Askeladd field was developed with three
Melkoya Island. wells linked to a pipeline and umbilical that con-
Askeladd is a satellite of the giant Snohvit nects with the existing Snohvit facility. Equinor
gas field in the Barents Sea – the main source of operates the project with a 36.8% stake, while
supply for Hammerfest LNG. It will provide an Petoro has 30%, TotalEnergies has 18.4%, Nep-
extra 18bn cubic metres of gas for the liquefac- tune Energy has 12% and Wintershall Dea has
tion plant – enough to keep it running at its full 2.8%.
6.5 bcm per year capacity for an extra three years. “Just over 1.5mn person-hours of work have
The field had been scheduled to start up gone into the project, most of them performed by
in 2020, but its launch was put on hold after our suppliers. During the project period, Aske-
the Mekoya plant caught fire late that year. It ladd generated 250-300 person-years of work
finally resumed operations in spring 2022, after in Northern Norway, mainly in Hammerfest,”
lengthy repairs. Askeladd was developed at a Equinor said. “In addition, many employees and
cost that was NOK650mn below the NOK5.2bn suppliers have helped restart Hammerfest LNG,
(€496mn) budget. which makes it possible to phase in both Askel-
Hammerfest LNG sells its gas to Europe, and add and future projects.”
its downtime after the fire further exacerbated Equinor plans to develop several more fields
the energy crisis that began on the continent in in the vicinity of Snohvit. The next one will be
the autumn of 2021. Askeladd West, which will comprise two wells
“HLNG delivers significant volumes to cus- tied back to existing infrastructure, followed by
tomers in Europe, and the gas from the Barents further investments in onshore compression
Sea reinforces our position as a predictable and and electrification as part of the Snohvit Future
reliable gas supplier,” Equinor said in a statement. project.
Week 50 15•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
