Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway — Equinor has produced first oil from the Breidablikk subsea development in the central Norwegian North Sea, four months ahead of the original schedule.
The field, which contains almost 200 MMbbl recoverable, is tied back to the Grane platform.
When Equinor submitted the plan for development and operation in September 2020, it aimed to have five wells pre-drilled and completed on startup in the first half of 2024. However, eight wells have already been drilled, and 14 more will be added through the end of 2025.
The 22 subsea wells are being drilled from four templates, with pipelines and cables installed between the subsea structures and the Grane platform, which has been modified to receive the well stream.
Main suppliers are Odfjell Drilling in Bergen, Aker Solutions in Egersund, Wood Group in Sandefjord, and TechnipFMC from its spoolbase in Orkanger. Equinor projects total Investments at just over NOK 21 billion ($1.8 billion).
At peak, from 2024-2026, Breidablikk should produce up to 55,000 to 60,000 bbl/d, mainly for export to mainland Europe.
Following processing on Grane, the oil is sent by pipeline to the Sture terminal in Øygarden, where it will account for about 15% of exports from the terminal over the next few years. Equinor’s organization at Sandsli in Bergen will operate both Breidablikk and Grane.
The field, discovered in 1992 in 130 m of water, is 10 km northeast of Grane.
Partners include Equinor Energy 39% (operator), Vår Energi (34.4%), Petoro (22.2%) and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (4.4%).
10.20.2023
