Norway's Johan Sverdrup field could begin oil shipments in October, earlier than the scheduled November start, an Equinor spokesman said on Friday, adding that oil market participants had been notified.
The startup of production at Sverdrup, the largest North Sea discovery in more than three decades, will significantly boost the region's crude shipments and is expected to impact oil prices as well as the cash flow of the field's owners.
"We've issued an early loading schedule that includes Sverdrup cargoes for October," Equinor spokesman Morten Eek said.
"Nothing would please us more than to see production before November, although a November start-up remains our primary expectation," he added.
Daily production from the field's first phase is projected to reach 440,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, and will likely rise to a peak of 660,000 bpd once the second phase comes on stream in late 2022, Equinor has said.
Shares of Aker BP and Lundin Petroleum, two of the partners in the Sverdrup licence, rose in early trade on rumors of an early startup, brokers said.
Aker BP's shares traded 2% higher at 1030 GMT, while Lundin was up by 2.3%. The larger partners, Equinor and Total , each rose by 1%.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Edmund Blair)