Increased Value Creation, More Resources and Greater Ripple Effects from Johan Sverdrup
Monday 27 August 2018
Equinor and the Johan Sverdrup partnership of Lundin Norway, Petoro, Aker BP and Total, are submitting the development plan for the second phase of the project to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
With an increased resource estimate and lower investment costs, the full field development of Johan Sverdrup will contribute to even greater value creation. At the same time, the ripple effects from the project will be larger than previously estimated. Low CO2 emissions make Johan Sverdrup one of the world’s most carbon-efficient fields.
Full field development of Johan Sverdrup is projected to contribute more than NOK 900 billion in income to the Norwegian State over the lifetime of the field. An updated analysis from Agenda Kaupang estimates that the development of Johan Sverdrup Phase 1 and Phase 2 can contribute more than 150,000 man-years in Norway in the period from 2015-2025. In the operations phase, Johan Sverdrup may generate employment of more than 3400 man-years every year.
The Plan for development and operation (PDO) for Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 also includes measures to facilitate power from shore to the Utsira High by 2022, in accordance with the terms for PDO Phase 1. Emission savings from the Johan Sverdrup field are estimated at 460,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to annual emissions from 230,000 private cars.
Further improvement in the project
The updated investment estimate for Phase 1 is now NOK 86 billion (nominal NOK, project exchange rate), a reduction of 30 per cent, amounting to NOK 37 billion since submission of the Phase 1 PDO.
Production start-up for the Phase 2 development is planned for Q4 2022.
Digitalisation and technology increase the resource estimate for Johan Sverdrup
In connection with the development of Phase 2, Equinor and the Johan Sverdrup partnership have established a full field digitalisation and technology plan to further reinforce safety and efficiency in operations, increase value and reduce carbon emissions from the field.
A number of improved recovery technologies are included in the plan:
- Water alternating gas injection (WAG)
- PRM (permanent reservoir monitoring) for the full field
- Stepwise implementation of fibre optics in wells
- Step-by-step development of digital twinning
- Technologies for automatic drilling control on the drilling platform
- High-speed telemetry drill pipe
- Improvements in cement quality
- Virtual rate monitoring on subsea wells
In the Phase 2 PDO, the resource estimate for the entire Johan Sverdrup field is raised from 2.1-3.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent to 2.2-3.2 billion barrels, with an expected estimate of 2.7 billion barrels.