Norway's Equinor and its partners have approved a 13 billion Norwegian crown ($1.29 billion) investment for the expansion of Johan Sverdrup, western Europe's largest producing oilfield, the company said on Tuesday.
The project is expected to increase recoverable volumes from the field by between 40 million and 50 million barrels of oil equivalent, Equinor and its partner Aker BP said in separate statements.
Production from new subsea wells linked to the existing infrastructure is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027, they added.
"Every third barrel of oil from the Norwegian continental shelf now comes from the field. Phase 3 is an important contribution to maintaining high production from Johan Sverdrup in the years to come," Equinor said in a statement.
Last year, the field produced a record 260 million barrels of oil, or more than 700,000 barrels per day, the highest annual oil production from any Norwegian field.
Norway accounts for about two per cent of global oil output.
Equinor, the field's operator, has a 42.63 per cent stake in Johan Sverdrup, while Aker BP holds 31.57 per cent, Norwegian state-owned oil firm Petoro 17.36 per cent and France's TotalEnergies the remaining 8.44 per cent.
Equinor, which is majority-owned by the Norwegian state, said it had submitted the plan to the government for approval.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Rachna Uppal)