Equinor and partners to invest $384 million in Barents Sea project

Oslo, April 26 - Neftegaz.RU. Norway’s Equinor and its partners Petoro, Total, Neptune, and Wintershall Dea have decided to develop the Askeladd Vest project, which is located in the southern Barents Sea.
The investment in the project is close to $384 million.

Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s senior VP for project development, said:

• The Askeladd Vest development is a profitable development and will provide 134 million barrels of oil equivalent

Equinor noted that, as part of the multi-phased Snøhvit development, Askeladd Vest will extend plateau production at the Hammerfest LNG plant by a good 2 years.
Plans call for the production to start in the 1^st half of 2024.

Without surface installations, the Snøhvit project involves bringing natural gas to land for liquefaction and export from the 1^st plant of its kind in Europe and the world’s northernmost LNG facility.

Kristin Westvik, Equinor’s senior VP for operations north, said:

• By increasing the resource base for Hammerfest LNG, Askeladd Vest will be an important contribution in supporting our ambition of long-term presence in the north
• This will allow us to further strengthen the ripple effects of our activities in this part of the country, which is important to Equinor and its partners in the time ahead

The subsea template on Askeladd Vest will be tied back to the Askeladd field through a pipeline and an umbilical.
Equinor emphasised that a substantial part of the Askeladd Vest project activities will be carried out in Norway.
Askeladd Vest licence partners are:

• Equinor 36.79% (operator)
• Petoro 30%
• Total E&P Norge 18.40%
• Neptune Energy Norge 12%
• Wintershall Dea Norge 2.81%