Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) operator Vår Energi seeks $1 billion to lease a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel for its life-extension project for the Balder Area in the North Sea, according to the media reports.
The Jotun FPSO vessel was taken ashore to Stavanger in June for upgrades, which began the life-extension project.
The NOK 19.6 billion ($2.1 billion) project will extend the life of the field (PL 001) by 2045, giving the license a lifetime of 80 years. The project seeks to extract another 136 million BOE from the field, with 13 new production wells, and one water-injection well to be drilled.
Production is anticipated for the second half of 2022.
Vår Energi will also drill in the Barents Sea and North Sea this fall. The company postponed drilling in that area during spring due to the pandemic and oil-price collapse.
Drilling plans resumed after the Norwegian parliament made temporary changes to the petroleum tax in June.
The drilling campaign will be carried out by the Saipem-owned drilling rig Scarabeo 8, including two production and one water-injection wells at the Goliat Field in the Barents Sea. The King Prince exploration well, near the Balder/Ringhorne field in the North Sea, will also be drilled.
Vår Energi is owned by Eni (69.6 %) and private-equity investor HitecVision (30.4 %).