Equinor Starts Work on Wisting Oil Field Development in Barents Sea

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norway's Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger) has kicked off development of the Wisting oil field in the Barents Sea by awarding a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for a floating production and storage vessel (FPSO) to Aker Solutions (Oslo).

The contract, valued at NOK 350 million (US$40 million), includes an option for engineering, procurement, construction and installation calculated at up to NOK 12 billion (US$1.4 billion). The Wisting field is a standalone field development containing close to 500 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Wisting is located about 310 kilometers from the Norwegian mainland with Equinor as the operator and main stakeholder (35%), alongside partners OMV Norge AS (25%), Petoro AS (20%), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (10%) and Lundin Energy Norway AS (10%).

Total investment in the project is expected to be NOK 60 to NOK 75 billion (US$6.9 billion to US$8.7 billion). Industrial Info is tracking all five Wisting projects. The concept chosen for development involves a circular FPSO and a power-from-shore solution to be integrated in the technical solution, which Equinor claimed will result "in very low CO2 emissions from the field."

Aker Solutions will be responsible for creating an overall solution covering topside facilities, living quarters and a hull. The topside will have a weight of about 20,000 metric tons, consisting of a large process module and a large utility module. The FEED work will involve up to 270 people, and most of the work will be carried out in Norway. Leirvik AS and Sevan SSP AS will contribute as sub-suppliers of engineering services for the living quarters and hull respectively.

"Equinor is cooperating well with partners, the supplier industry and the authorities to ensure a successful development of the Wisting field, meeting the requirements expected for future oil and gas production," said Geir Tungesvik, senior vice president for project development. "We plan to submit the plan for development and operation (PDO) to the authorities at the end of 2022. A decision to develop the Wisting field will generate considerable value for Norwegian society and spin-offs for Norwegian supplier industry both in the development and operations phases."

Sturla Magnus, executive vice president and head of Aker Solutions' topside and facilities business, added: "Wisting is one of the largest upcoming industrial projects in Norway. We are looking forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with Equinor for this significant field development, and to mature the project towards a planned investment decision."

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