Equinor Spending US$10 Billion To Maintain Norway's Output

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)

Summary

Contracts worth almost US$10 billion have been awarded by Norway's Equinor (Stavanger) to seven different suppliers to provide support, maintenance and upgrades to the company's European offshore installations and onshore plants.

Norway's oil and gas heavyweight Equinor (Stavanger) has awarded almost US$10 billion in framework contracts to maintain the company's offshore installations and onshore plants on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. 

Securing its Infrastructure

The 12 framework agreements with seven suppliers, including Aibel (Stavanger), Aker Solutions (Oslo), Moreld Apply AS (Stavanger), Wood Group (Aberdeen, Scotland), Rosenberg Worley (Stavanger), Head Energy (Bergen), and IKM Gruppen (Sola, Norway), will run for five years and kick off from mid-2026. They will also include extension options of two to three years. The company said that the contracts will support the smooth running and expansion of its Norwegian Continental Shelf activities out to 2035. Its ambition is to maintain production of roughly 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d) out to 2035. It said that contracts involve planning, engineering, installation, and completion of modification and maintenance projects, as well as maintenance on installations on the shelf and onshore plants. These will cover many disciplines including mechanical, electrical, and automation and will involve approximately 4,000 direct man-years. The last time Equinor entered into long-term framework contracts was in 2015. 

Equinor's Mission

"The Norwegian continental shelf will remain the backbone for Equinor for a long time," said Kjetil Hove, executive vice president for the Norwegian Continental Shelf at Equinor. "Our ambition is to maintain a high production level and predictable energy deliveries to Europe towards 2035. At the same time, the shelf is entering a mature phase that will require new solutions. To succeed, we must, together with the supplier industry, find new ways of working that strengthen our competitiveness. These agreements facilitate long-term collaboration and continuous improvement on core tasks at Equinor's offshore installations and onshore facilities in Norway."

Concrete Steps

In addition to the framework agreements, Equinor plans to: 

• Invest about US$6 billion to US$7 billion annually in increased recovery and new fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
• Drill around 250 exploration wells and about 600 wells for increased recovery.
• Perform 300 well interventions annually and around 2,500 modification projects.
• Mature and develop over 75 subsea developments that can be tied to existing infrastructure.
• Reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by around 50% by 2030 (compared to 2015 figures), while delivering stable and predictable energy supplies to Europe.

Rival Spending

Last month, rival company and the leading independent oil and gas developer in the North Sea, Vår Energi (Stavanger, Norway), announced plans to spend roughly US$15 billion in the coming years on 20 projects in the Norwegian North Sea and Barents Sea. The company said that the investment will add 350,000-400,000 BOE/d through 2030 and beyond. For additional information, see December 31, 2025, article--Vår Energi Spending US$15 billion in Norwegian North Sea.

Key Takeaways

• Equinor (Stavanger) has awarded almost US$10 billion in framework contracts to maintain its offshore and onshore operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. 
• It will spend roughly US$6-7 billion annually in increased recovery and new fields
• Aims to drill around 250 exploration wells and about 600 wells for increased recovery

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