Equinor With Development Plan for Oil Field in Northern Norway

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has now received a plan for the development and operation of the Verdande oil field, around 300 kilometers southwest of Bodø, Northern Norway. The sender is the energy company Equinor, the largest licensee (59.4 percent), on behalf of the entire partnership. 

The Verdande field consists of the Cape Vulture and Alve Nordøst discoveries at 350-380 meters depth in the Norwegian Sea. These were detected in 2017 and 2020 respectively and total around 36.3 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents, according to Equinor.

The company and the other partners want to start production at Verdande in 2025.

Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland (Labor) welcomes the new plan.

"New developments such as this are important both for our allies in Europe and for the oil and gas environment in Nordland," believes Aasland.

"It is through new development projects that we can maintain employment and high production over time. The Norne field in the Norwegian Sea has been operating for 25 years. The development of Verdande uses the available capacity at the Norne field and contributes to value creation and further profitable operations," the minister continues.

The other licensees are Petoro AS (22.4 percent), Vår Energi ASA (10.5 percent), Aker BP ASA (7 percent), and PGNiG Upstream Norway AS (0.8 percent).