Equinor reports that the Eirin field has come on stream and is now exporting gas to Europe via the Gina Krog and Sleipner A platforms in the North Sea. The subsea development has been developed in record time.
Expected recoverable resources from Eirin are about 27.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, mainly gas.
The Gina Krog platform in the North Sea. Photo: ©Equinor
Eirin was proven as early as 1978 but was abandoned due to lack of profitability. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Norwegian gas became more important, and the discovery was reassessed in 2023.
'The partnership saw an opportunity to contribute to Europe's energy security in a challenging time. We made an ambitious plan for a fast, cost-effective and safe development, which has now been realised. Eirin will extend production from the Gina Krog platform by seven years. This means gas to Europe and continued good value creation from the jobs associated with the platform,' says Linda Kåda Høiland, senior vice president for late-life fields in Equinor, newly appointed vice president for Statfjord in Exploration & Production Norway.
Eirin has been developed as a subsea facility tied back to the Gina Krog platform. The gas is exported via Sleipner A. The Sleipner area is a key hub for Norwegian gas exports to Europe. Total investments are estimated at NOK 4.5 billion. The project will be able to extend Gina Krog's economic life from 2029 to 2036.
'The project has given us important learnings on how to develop marginal discoveries quickly and profitably. Such subsea developments will be important for maintaining production and value creation from the Norwegian shelf in the future. Early collaboration, efficient decision-making processes and standardized solutions have been crucial to realizing Eirin in a short time. From the establishment of the project to the start of production, we have only spent three years,' says Høiland.
The Eirin development has very good safety results and has made a lot of reuse of mature technology. Gina Krog was electrified in 2023, which means low CO2 emissions for the Eirin field as well, around 3 kg CO2 per barrel produced (oil equivalents).
Facts:
- Partners in the licence are Equinor (operator and 58.7% interest) and ORLEN Upstream Norway AS (41.3% interest).
- The Eirin discovery was proven in 1978 and is located about 250 kilometres west of Stavanger in about 120 metres of water, with a reservoir at a depth of about 4000 metres.
- Eirin is being developed as a subsea facility (subsea template with two slots) with tie-back to Gina Krog. Volumes are further processed to Sleipner A. Gas is exported through Gassled, while liquids go to Kårstø for further processing and export. The solution utilises existing risers and facilitates possible step-by-step expansion and tie-in of new discoveries in the area.
- The project matured until Equinor's investment decision in record time, in just 4.5 months. From the establishment of the project in January 2023 to the start-up of production, 3 years have passed.
Source: Equinor
