Vår Energi progressing more than 25 early phase projects offshore Norway

Vår Energi is progressing more than 25 early phase projects offshore Norway targeting net 2C resources of more than 500 MMboe, the company said in a results update.

It also aims to sanction potentially eight new field development projects this year.

As for exploration, it expects to participate in about 20 wells over the course of the year, with longer-term plans to drill prospective net risked resources of more than 1 Bboe (about half of these over the next four years).

North Sea project updates

At the company’s operated Balder Area in the North Sea, infill drilling at the Ringhorne field resumed late last year with the first new well coming on stream at the end of January, at rates above expectations.

Production from the extensive Balder X redevelopment project should begin by mid-2025. This is designed to sustain production from the Balder area beyond 2045, delivering additional production of about 150 MMboe, and peak rates through the refurbished Jotun FPSO of 80,000 boe/d.

All the development wells have been completed and all subsea production systems installed. The Jotun FPSO, currently undergoing commissioning, should sail to the field next month, weather permitting.

Drilling of the six recently sanctioned Balder Phase V production wells should start in the next few months from a subsea template (a 34-MMboe to 38-MMboe incremental development), with first oil anticipated toward the end of the year.

In addition, there are plans to sanction the Balder Phase VI project later in 2025 targeting 7 MMboe to 16 MMboe recoverable via a single multilateral well subsea tied back to the Jotun FPSO. With further resource upside in the area, more exploration drilling and tieback development phases are under review.