Equinor, Vår Energi, and Petoro will invest more than $395 million to develop Isflak, the first discovery tied back to the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea, only 8 months after the field began producing. Both developments are part of PL 532.
According to Equinor, the development solution for the Isflak discovery consists of two wells in a new subsea template tied back to existing subsea facilities through pipelines and umbilicals. Isflak is estimated to hold 46 million recoverable bbl of oil and is planned to start up in late 2028.
Isflak’s quick development is credited to the use of the same standardized equipment and well designs as the Johan Castberg field. This is keeping in line with trends seen in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) where many future developments are smaller discoveries that can quickly be tied back to existing infrastructure and larger fields to keep both costs and environmental footprint low and extend value creation and jobs.
The Johan Castberg FPSO reached peak production of 220,000 B/D in June, less than 3 months after going onstream.
"Equinor's ambition is to maintain the production level on the NCS from 2020 until 2035, although production from the current fields will decline. A significant part will come from new wells and projects. We are planning about 75 subsea developments in the next few years, and this project is a good example of how this can be done efficiently working closely with license partners and authorities," said Grete Birgitte Haaland, senior VP for exploration and production north.
Equinor serves as operator and holds 46.3% interest with Vår Energi ASA (30%) and Petoro AS (23.7%).