Equinor extends life of Norwegian oil giant Statfjord to 2035

London — Norway's state-controlled Equinor has decided not to decommission the Statfjord A oil platform in 2022 as previously planned, and to extend production from what was the country's largest oil fieldbeyond 2035, it said Thursday.

Statfjord has been a major producer of light oil for Norway, with liquids output peaking at 640,000 b/d in 1992, but has been declining in recent years. Liquids output over the first 10 months of 2019 was around 40,000 b/d, although loaded volumes were supplemented from the nearby Snorre field, which uses the same offshore loading facilities.

Production is routed through three main platforms, and the first of these had been due to be decommissioned in 2022, with Statfjord B and C penciled in for decommissioning in the mid-2020s.

But Equinor on Thursday said it now plans to extend production from Statfjord A to 2027 and Statfjord B and C beyond 2035, with current levels of production being maintained beyond 2025. Production levels got a modest boost last month with the start of production from the Barnacle field,in UK waters, which is tied to Statfjord B and operated by Equinor.

"Equinor and its partners in the Statfjord area have identified and approved plans to extend production from the field towards 2040. A new business plan will ensure even higher use of resources,extract more value from the field, and allow plans for decommissioning Statfjord A in 2022 to be deferred," Equinor said in a statement.

"Based on extensive mapping of the underground the remaining potential of the Statfjord area isstill considerable," it added.

The new plan for Statfjord involves drilling another 100 wells up to 2030 and "calls for extending Statfjord production by maturing new reserves for recovery and making necessary upgrading of the platforms, strongly increasing field activity," Equinor said.

It added it was creating a new "late life" unit within the company to "develop new ways of working for safe and efficient operation with low carbon emissions from late life fields."

The plans for Stratfjord will also conform with Equinor's plans to reduce CO2 emissions from the Norwegian offshore industry by 40% by 2030, it added.

Equinor holds stakes of between 30% and 44% in the various Statfjord license areas, with the other holders being Centrica subsidiary Spirit Energy, Eni subsidiary Var Energi, Japan's Idemitsu, Germany's Wintershall DEA and the state holding company Petoro.

-- Nick Coleman, nick.coleman@spglobal.com

-- Edited by Alisdair Bowles, alisdair.bowles@spglobal.com