Equinor, a Norwegian government-backed energy company, has started production from the Statfjord Øst life extension project offshore Norway.

Equinor and its partners anticipate that this project will raise Statfjord Øst production by 26 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Despite inflation and the weakening of the Norwegian krone, the project was completed with "good safety" outcomes and is anticipated to be delivered under budget, Equinor explained.

The production from Statfjord Øst began six months earlier than planned.

Statfjord Øst, which first commenced production in 1994, is located 5km northeast of Statfjord C and is tied to it via flowlines.

Equinor said three further wells will be drilled in addition to the two new wells that have already been drilled using subsea templates.

It is anticipated that this project will increase the field's oil recovery rate from 58% to 63%.

Petoro (30%), Vår Energi (20.55%), Okea (14.0%), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (4.8%) are Wintershall Dea Norge (1.4%) Equinor Energy’s (29.25%) licence partners in Statfjord Øst unit.

Equinor senior vice president for Field Life eXtension (FLX) Camilla Salthe said: “This proves the importance of extending the life of mature fields and maximising value creation from existing infrastructure on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

“The project contributes to extending the life of Statfjord C to 2040. The profitability is high, and the value of increased production equals around NOK 20 billion at the current oil price. This is good use of resources which provide ripple effects for Norwegian suppliers.”

Earlier last week, Equinor awarded contracts to DeepOcean and Ocean Installer to work on its assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).