Norway’s Equinor and its partners have decided to pump about NOK 1.4 billion (US$165 million) into further developing the Åsgard B Field in the Norwegian Sea, the company said March 4.

The low-pressure project at the Åsgard Field, where production began in 1999, aims to increase production from the Smørbukk wells and improve recovery, according to a news release.

“We can still produce 400-500 million barrels of oil equivalent from the field. This means value creation in the order of NOK 150-200 billion,” said Randi Hugdahl, Equinor’s vice president for Åsgard operations. “The current recovery rate for the field is almost 50%, but our ambition is to extract 60% of the hydrocarbons in the reservoirs before the field will have to be shut down.”

Plans are to modify the Åsgard gas and condensate platform to lower inlet pressure by replacing reinjection compressors and rebuilding parts of the processing facility, Equinor explained.

Aker Solutions landed the engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract, valued at about NOK 800 million, to modify the platform. It follows the company’s December 2019 FEED contract award.

Work was set to begin immediately with completion scheduled in 2024.

Low-pressure production is expected to start in 2023, Equinor said.

Partners in the Åsgard license are Equinor (operator), 34.57%; Petoro AS, 35.69%; Vår Energi AS, 22.06% and Total E&P Norge AS, 7.68%.

Offshore