Equinor, alongside its partners, has commenced oil and gas production from the Kristin South project's initial Lavrans well in the Norwegian Sea.
This marks the first phase of a development plan that was sanctioned by authorities in 2022, following its submission in 2021.
A new subsea template has been installed and integrated with the Kristin platform, which is now processing hydrocarbons from the Lavrans field's inaugural well.
The extracted gas is earmarked for export to the European market via pipeline systems, while oil will be shipped to markets using the Åsgard C storage vessel.
In the initial phase of the Kristin South project, four additional wells will be drilled: three in the Lavrans field and one in the Q-segment of the Kristin field, using an existing subsea template connected to the Kristin SEMI platform.
The estimated recoverable resource for this phase totals 58.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), the majority being gas.
The CO₂ intensity for the extraction and production of the Kristin South Phase 1 is 1kg of CO₂/boe, primarily from drilling activities.
Discovered in 1995, Lavrans, along with the Kristin field, which commenced operations in 2005, has a technical lifetime extending to 2043, with potential for further lifespan extensions.
Equinor Energy operates the project with a majority stake of 54.82%, while Petoro holds 22.52%, Vår Energi holds 16.66% and TotalEnergies EP Norge owns 6%.
Equinor senior vice-president for project development Trond Bokn said: “The Kristin South project demonstrates our strategy to create value by developing existing infrastructure on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Together with our partners and suppliers, we have developed the project and started the production from Lavrans in a safe and good way.”
Last month, Equinor and partners contracted Ocean Installer for a subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines project valued at more than Nkr1bn ($94.27m) for the Troll phase 3 – stage 2 project.
