(Oil Price) – Following several months of delays due to inclement winter weather in the waters in Norway’s Arctic, Equinor started up the Johan Castberg oilfield on Monday, which will add 220,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production rates.
Equinor has already delayed the start-up twice, in December and in early March, due to bad weather.
As Norway’s newest oilfield, Johan Castberg in the Barents Sea, is now on stream, it will produce crude for 30 years, boost Norway’s oil exports, and bolster the role of Western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer as a reliable and long-term supplier of energy, Equinor said.
At peak output levels, Johan Castberg can produce 220,000 bpd, while recoverable volumes are estimated at between 450 and 650 million barrels of oil.
Equinor expects that this major field development, which cost $8.2 billion (86 billion Norwegian crowns), will be repaid in less than two years, said Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s executive vice president for Projects, Drilling and Procurement.
“Johan Castberg opens a new region for oil recovery and will create more opportunities in the Barents Sea. We’ve already made new discoveries in the area and will keep exploring together with our partners. We’ve identified options to add 250-550 million new recoverable barrels that can be developed and produced over Johan Castberg,” commented Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway.
Norway expects its oil liquids production to rise by 5.2% in 2025 from 2024, also thanks to the start-up of Johan Castberg.
OPEC also considers Norway as one of the producers that would contribute to the rise in oil output from non-OPEC+ countries this year, alongside the United States, Canada, and Brazil.
Yet, further exploration efforts and new discoveries would be crucial to slowing the expected decline in Norway’s oil and gas production in the 2030s, the authorities of Western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer have said in recent years.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
