Spirit Energy has brought the Oda Field online in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea five months ahead of schedule and under budget.

The subsea development, which is tied to the Ula platform, has a price tag of about 4.6 billion kroner (US$540 million). The cost is about 15% less than initial estimates thanks to drilling efficiencies and cooperation with suppliers, the company said, noting costs would have been higher if existing offshore equipment had not been used.

The processing equipment and hook-up to the Ula platform are reused from the shutdown Oselvar Field, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Oda production was originally set to start in August.

“When we are also well ahead of schedule and well below budget, there is every reason to be proud,” Rune Martinsen, managing director for Spirit Energy Norway, said in a company statement.

The company also attributed what it called “new supplier cooperation” to the quicker than expected, less costly startup. The agreements—signed for up to 10 years with Aibel, Subsea 7, TechnipFMC and DNV GL and dubbed the “Strategic partner alliance”—aimed to create long-term cooperation, value and predictability, Spirit said.

Spirit Energy claims the cooperation lowered costs by about 50%.

“We wanted to have the suppliers with us from start to finish, rather than defining the project ourselves and then putting it out for tender. In this way, we created predictability, cooperation and a long-term perspective—also for the suppliers,” Martinsen said. “We’ve let the experts do what they do best. There is no doubt that this cooperation model has contributed to high-quality delivery. We have also had excellent cooperation with Aker BP, operator of the host platform on the Ula field.”

While gas from the field, which was discovered in 2011, will be injected into the reservoir to improve oil recovery, oil produced from the field will be exported to Ekofisk and onto Norpipe. From there, it will be transported to the U.K.’s Teesside terminal.

Recoverable reserves for Oda are estimated at 33 million barrels of oil equivalent. Spirit said peak daily production is expected to be nearly 35,000 barrels.

Holding a 40% ownership interest, Spirit Energy Norway is the operator. Partners are Suncor Energy Norge (30%), Faroe Petroleum (15%) and Aker BP (15%).

Offshore