On behalf of partners, Equinor has awarded contracts worth around NOK 6 billion for four subsea projects. They are part of the first of several planned subsea development waves, in which contracts are being coordinated to increase pace and reduce costs for subsea developments on the Norwegian continental shelf.
'We envisage around 75 subsea developments towards 2035. To realise these resources, we need to develop smaller discoveries faster and at a lower cost than today. This requires significant changes in how we plan and execute subsea projects. Our ambition is to halve both costs and execution time through simpler processes and standardised solutions together with our partners and suppliers,' says Gunnar Nakken, senior vice president for projects and subsea on the Norwegian continental shelf in Equinor.
Together, the four projects will contribute between 130 and 220 million barrels of oil equivalent to future production from the Norwegian continental shelf.
'We are strengthening competition and predictability and giving suppliers the opportunity to deliver on several projects at the same time. It is essential to reduce costs, and the response from the industry confirms significant improvement potential. We will now scale this collaboration to make marginal discoveries profitable and maintain activity levels on the Norwegian continental shelf,' says Jannicke Nilsson, chief procurement officer.
These are the contracts:
- TechnipFMC will deliver subsea production systems for Brime, Omega Sør and Tyrihans Nord. They will also install rigid pipelines on the Troll field. The linepipe will be supplied by Tenaris.
- OneSubsea will deliver the subsea production system for the TWIN project, as well as umbilicalsfor all the projects.
- Ocean Installer has been awarded the contract for marine operations. They will install and connect the subsea facilities, control cables and flexible pipelines.
- NOV will deliver flexible pipelines to Omega Sør, Tyrihans Nord and Brime.
'This is equipment with long lead times, so we need to invest early if we are to halve the time from discovery to production. We order standard equipment that can be used by later projects if one of the projects in the first wave is not sanctioned by the partnership or approved by the authorities,' says Nakken.
The relevant subsea projects are:
- TWIN, which will be tied back to Troll A
- Omega Sør, which is planned to be tied back to Snorre A
- Tyrihans Nord, which is planned to be produced via the Kristin platform
- Brime, which is planned to be tied back to Gullfaks C via Visund Sør existing template on the seabed
So far, only the TWIN project has been sanctioned by the owners and in accordance with the Petroleum Act the partnership has sent notification to the Ministry of Energy regarding the development. The remaining projects will be processed and sanctioned in accordance with the decision-making processes of the partnerships and the authorities.
Projects in wave 1:
TWIN is the third step in a phased development of the gas cap in Troll West.
- The partnership has decided to invest just over NOK 4 billion in the project, which will contribute around 11 billion standard cubic metres of gas.
- The project consists of two wells in a new template and a pipeline connected to existing subsea facilities. The control cable and MEG line will be extended to the new development.
- The gas will be produced via Troll A before being sent to Kollsnes.
- TWIN stands for Troll West Increased gas recovery North – increased recovery of gas in the northern part of the gas cap in Troll West.
- Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 30.55% (operator), Petoro AS 55.93%, A/S Norske Shell 8.19%, TotalEnergies EP Norge AS 3.69% and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia 1.64%.
The other projects are currently in the early phase.
Brime is planned to be developed with four wells drilled from a template tied back to an existing subsea template at Visund Sør. From there, the wellstream, which is mainly gas, will be sent to Gullfaks C for processing before being transported onwards to Kårstø for export.
- Brime also provides the basis for a possible phased development of Nøkken, planned as sidetracks from two of the wells at Brime.
- Recoverable volumes in Brime are estimated at 16–34 million barrels of oil equivalent.
- Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 74.66% (operator), Petoro AS 25.34%.
Omega Sør is an oil discovery made near the Snorre field in spring 2026, with recoverable volumes then estimated at between 25 and 89 million barrels.
- The discovery is planned to be developed with a template and a Cap-X production satellite connected to existing subsea facilities. The oil is planned to be produced via Snorre A before being shipped to market via Gullfaks.
- Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 31% (operator), Petoro AS 30%, Harbour Energy Norge AS 24.5%, INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS 9.6%, Vår Energi ASA 4.9%.
Tyrihans Nord is a discovery from 1984 that is planned to be developed with two wells in a new template connected to the existing production pipeline between the Tyrihans subsea field and the Kristin platform in the Norwegian Sea. From there, the gas will be sent onwards to Kårstø.
- Volumes are estimated at between 20 and 30 million barrels of oil equivalent, mainly gas.
- Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 36.32% (operator), TotalEnergies EP Norge AS 23.15%, Petoro AS 22.52%, Vår Energi ASA 18.02%.
In addition, Sissel is included in the first wave. The discovery was made in January this year. The original plan was to develop the discovery by drilling a well through a new Cap-X structure. This has now been simplified so that the well will be drilled through the existing Utgard template. Volumes are currently estimated at between 6 and 28 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 50% (operator), Orlen Upstream Norway AS 50%.
Source: Equinor
