Norwegian firm Equinor and its partners have secured consent from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for start-up of the Trestakk field on the Halten Bank in the Norwegian Sea.

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Image: Illustration of Trestakk field development in the Norwegian Sea. Photo: courtesy of Equinor.

Scheduled for start-up in May 2019, the field is located about 25km southeast of the Åsgard field and in production licence PL091. It was discovered in 1986.

According to Equinor estimates, the field holds recoverable volume of 10.7 million standard cubic meters of oil and 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas.

Estimated to cost NOK4.8bn, the Trestakk development concept consists of one subsea template with four well slots, and one satellite well. The subsea installation is tied-back to the Åsgard A facility for processing and gas injection.

Equinor, as operator, has 59.1% stake in the project while other partners include ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway with 33% stake and Eni Norge holding remaining 7.9% interest.

The well stream will be transported to the Åsgard A facility for processing through a 12-inch production pipeline.

The partners plan to produce the Trestakk reserves with pressure support in the form of gas injection.

According to NPD, the reservoir holds oil in relatively homogeneous, shallow marine sandstone of Middle Jurassic age in the Garn Formation, and at a depth of 3,900m.

In January 2019, Equinor has secured a regulatory nod to extend production from the Asgard A facility in the Asgard oilfield in Norwegian Sea till 2027.

The approval enables production to be carried out from the vessel for twelve more years than what was originally planned.

The Asgard A, which is an oil production ship, offers a storage capacity onboard for nearly 907,000 barrels of oil. The monohull, which was moored permanently to the seabed, has a production capacity of 200,000 barrels per day.

In addition to the Asgard A facility, two other platforms – Asgard B and Asgard C are used for production from the offshore Norwegian field.

NPD earlier said that recovery of Trestakk and the Blabjørn discoveries depend on an extended lifetime for Asgard A.