Discovered in 2013, Smørbukk Nord in the Norwegian Continental Shelf will have a brownfield tieback to the Åsgard oil and gas field in Haltenbanken, which has been producing since 1999
Equinor awarded an iEPCI contract to TechnipFMC for the Smørbukk Nord development. (Credit: TechnipFMC plc)
TechnipFMC has won an integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (iEPCI) contract from Equinor for the Smørbukk Nord development in the Norwegian Sea.
The value of the contract was not revealed by TechnipFMC. The contract follows the front end engineering and design (FEED) work for the project that was won by the company last year.
As per the terms of the contract, TechnipFMC will be responsible for a high-pressure, high-temperature subsea production system and associated equipment. These will be used for enabling a brownfield tieback of the Smørbukk Nord discovery to the Åsgard field.
TechnipFMC said that it will use its battery hybrid vessel for the installation campaign. The vessel is claimed to cut down emissions of greenhouse gases via reduced fuel consumption.
TechnipFMC subsea president Jonathan Landes said: “Our ability to deliver this optimised solution for Equinor is possible due to our close collaboration with the client, portfolio of subsea equipment, and integrated execution model. We’re delighted to be once again delivering an iEPCI project for Equinor.”
Smørbukk Nord was discovered in 2013 through the drilling of the 6506/9-3 well in production licence 479. Drilled by the Transocean Leader rig, nearly 5km north of the Åsgard field, the wild well had encountered a gas and condensate column of 131ft.
As per preliminary estimate, the discovery has a size in the range of 4-7.5 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalents.
Smørbukk Nord is included in the Åsgard field, which has been producing since 1999. In March 2021, Equinor and its partners decided to go ahead with the NOK1.4bn ($160m) Åsgard B low-pressure project.
According to Equinor, the Åsgard B low-pressure project is aimed at increasing production from the existing wells in the Smørbukk deposit.