Equinor's Sverdrup Oil Field To Run At Full Capacity In April

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) -operated Johan Sverdrup oil field in Norway, which came online ahead of schedule in October 2019, is expected to see growth in oil production during April to around 433,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared with 350,000 bpd recorded at 2019 end.

With this solid surge in production, the giant oil field’s phase-one output is inching closer to achieve its goal of 440,000 bpd for the coming summer. Also, its anticipated maximum output of 660,000 bpd in the second phase, accounting for one third of Norway’s total petroleum production, is unaltered.

Per partner Lundin Petroleum, Equinor commenced drilling the first of its two new production wells in January 2020 to attain the first-phase plateau after witnessing output from its eight pre-drilled wells in 2019.

The Johan Sverdrup oil field, which is one of the largest discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), makes the North Sea field western Europe’s largest oil production hub. Output is generated from the vast swathes across Equinor’s Troll and ConocoPhillips’ (NYSE:COP) Ekofisk fields in Norway besides Britain’s Buzzard, which is operated by a unit of China’s CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO) .

At its optimum level of productivity, the Norwegian Continental shelf might churn out 30% oil output from Sverdrup.

It is believed that this Johan Sverdrup’s first-phase production is helping Equinor revive its peak volume from its Norwegian fields that suffered a massive setback over the past year and half due to natural decline and technical issues.

In order to check the toxic emissions offshore by 80-90% while delivering valuable barrels, the field is run by onshore-regulated electrical power.

Equinor holds 42.6% stake in the Johan Sverdrup development process while Swedish oil producer Lundin Petroleum AB (who discovered the field in 2010) owns 20% interest. The remaining shares are held by TOTAL SA (NYSE:TOT) , Aker BP (LON:BP) and Petoro.

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