Equinor and its partners Vår Energi and Petoro have postponed the start-up of Johan Castberg field, located in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, to January or February 2025 from the initial plan to bring the field on stream by the end of 2024, citing bad weather as the reason for delay.
The Johan Castberg FPSO has been hooked up to the subsea facility and the project is now in a final phase towards start-up, Equinor said.
The operations to bring the field on stream have been somewhat delayed by bad weather, said Geir Tungesvik, Equinor's executive vice president for projects, drilling and procurement, as the field was originally expected to start producing at the end of 2024.
The field will produce for 30 years, and at its peak, Johan Castberg may produce 220,000 barrels per day.
The FPSO is 313 meters long, 55 meters wide and 120 meters high. Its design storage capacity is 1.1 million barrels of oil.
Equinor operates the Castberg field and has a 50% stake, while partners Vaar Energi and Petoro have 30% and 20% respectively.
So far 14 wells have been drilled on the field, 12 are already ready for production, which is sufficient to bring the field to plateau production. Estimated recoverable volumes in Johan Castberg are between 450 to 650 million barrels of oil.
The field development concept includes a total of 30 wells distributed across 10 subsea templates and two satellite structures. Drilling operations will continue into 2026, Equinor said earlier.
The resource base for developing the Johan Castberg field consists of the three oil discoveries Skrugard, Havis and Drivis, all of which are located in production licence 532.
”Norway's role as a reliable and long-term energy supplier will be strengthened when Johan Castberg comes on stream. The field opens a new province for oil recovery and will be an important starting point for several opportunities in the Barents Sea.
“We have made new discoveries that we are in the process of turning into future tie-backs to Johan Castberg,” said Tungesvik.
