Vår Energi and licence partner Kistos Energy Norway have reached the final investment decision (FID) for the Balder Phase VI project in the Balder area. The fast-track development will be a key contributor to sustaining long term, high-value production through the newly installed Jotun floating production storage offloading vessel (FPSO).
COO of Vår Energi, Torger Rød, said:
'The Balder area in the North Sea is one of Vår Energi’s core hubs and constitutes significant future resource potential. With the Jotun FPSO now installed as the new area host, we will continue to unlock additional high value barrels from the Balder area through several phases of new developments and field optimisations. This includes Balder phase V, which will come on stream later this year. And with the FID for Balder Phase VI we are taking yet another important step to sustain production from the area through short time to market developments.'
Vår Energi is on track to reach production levels of more than 400 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) in fourth quarter this year and the Company aims to organically sustain production long term through developing a highly attractive portfolio of around 30 early phase projects. Balder Phase VI is one of around eight project sanctions expected this year.
The Balder Phase VI project will develop around 15 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of gross proved plus probable (2P) reserves for a capital spend of NOK 2.6 billion (USD 260 million) gross. The project has strong economics, with a break-even well below 35 USD per barrel, IRR above 35% and will pay back in less than a year from start of production at current prices. The project consists of one additional multilateral production well, installation of a new subsea template, and a flowline that will be tied into the Jotun FPSO. The sanctioning of Balder Phase VI aligns with Vår Energi’s strategy of maximising value in core hub areas by utilising existing capacity and infrastructure and demonstrates how the upgraded Jotun FPSO will contribute to continued value creation in the area. Balder Phase VI is expected to come onstream by the end of 2026.
In addition, in the Balder area several additional early phase projects are also being progressed, including Balder Next. The Balder Next project is targeting additional gross contingent resources of around 55 mmboe. The project consists of taking the Balder Floating Production Unit (FPU) to shore for decommissioning, planned in 2028. Selected wells producing though Balder FPU will be transferred to the Jotun FPSO. In addition, production will be accelerated as part of the Jotun FPSO debottlenecking project to increase production capacity on the FPSO, as well as developing new production wells. The decommissioning of Balder FPU is expected to reduce operating costs by approximately USD 130 million gross per annum and reduce CO2 emissions by around 80,000 tonnes gross per year.
With Jotun FPSO serving as the new area host at the Balder field, production is expected to remain at 70-80 kboepd gross towards 2030.
'While moving projects forward at pace, a major portion of our portfolio and capital remains uncommitted, allowing for a high degree of flexibility. This provides resilience and robustness to navigate through the cycles, whilst we continue to move high value projects forward at the right time', Mr Rød concluded.
Vår Energi is operator (90%) of the Balder field, with Kistos Energy Norway AS as partner (10%).
Source: Vår Energi
