Six discoveries under a unitisation project to be tied back to an Equinor-operated platform in the Norwegian Sea
The Haltenbanken East project will be a subsea tie-back to the Åsgard B gas and condensate processing platform. (Credit: Øyvind Hagen/Equinor ASA)
Equinor, Spirit Energy, and other partners have finalised a development concept for six discoveries in the Norwegian Sea under the Haltenbanken East project through a subsea tie-back to Åsgard B platform.
The six discoveries to be tied back to the semi-submersible gas and condensate processing platform are Natalia, Sigrid, Nona, Flyndretind, Cortina, and Mikkel South.
A final investment decision on the project is expected to be made in the first half of next year.
Spirit Energy said that the partners will submit a plan for development and operations (PDO) for the Haltenbanken East project to the Norwegian authorities in the latter half of 2022.
Spirit Energy asset manager Gunn Gadeholt said: “These discoveries were basically considered stranded assets – it would not have been economically viable to develop any of them on their own.
“The unitisation approach will unlock the potential and deliver value both in the development- and production phases of the project. It’s a smart solution that we and our partners can be proud of.”
The joint unitisation project will use the existing facilities and infrastructure at the Equinor-operated Åsgard field in the Haltenbanken region, located nearly 200km off mid-Norway.
According to Spirit Energy, the Haltenbanken East project will be developed as a unit between four different licences. The project also includes three prospects and has a combined volume of 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), which is mostly gas.
The unitisation project is planned to be carried out in two phases. The first of which will involve drilling of six wells to five of the discoveries.
The second phase will see drilling of the last discovery and the three prospects as side-tracks from existing wells.
Equinor is the operator of the Haltenbanken East project with a 57.7% stake, while Spirit Energy has a working interest of 11.8%. The other licence partners include Vår Energi (24.6%) and Petoro (5.9%).