Equinor says Johan Castberg field in Barents Sea producing at full capacity

Only three months after coming on stream, Johan Castberg is producing at peak capacity of 220,000 barrels of oil per day, Equinor confirmed via a recent press release.

Equinor said this increases energy deliveries from the Barents Sea by 150 per cent.

The company said the early operation phase has gone according to plan, the field reaching plateau production on June 17. Seventeen of a total of 30 wells have been completed, and the wells that have come on stream are producing as Equinor expected.

"Every three to four days, tank loads now depart from Johan Castberg, each of them worth around half a billion Norwegian kroner (around US$50 million)," said Kjetil Hove, Equinor's Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production Norway. "The field will remain on stream for at least 30 years, delivering stable energy to Europe [and] generating high value for Norway."

The Johan Castberg floating production storage and offloading unit came on stream on March 31 this year. The first cargo was loaded by the tanker Bodil Knutsen on May 25, shipping around 700,000 barrels to Spain.

Almost all oil from the Norwegian continental shelf is currently delivered to Europe, Equinor said.

"The Johan Castberg volume base initially estimated at 450 to 650 million barrels," added Hove. "Our ambition is to increase the reserves by between 250 and 550 million barrels.

"We are already planning six new wells to extend plateau production. The Isflak project will be a rapid field development with an investment decision at the end of the year and start-up in 2028. In addition, we will drill one or two exploration wells annually near Johan Castberg."

Equinor said new exploration targets have been matured in the Johan Castberg area. Going forward, two rigs will be drilling new exploration wells in the areas around Johan Castberg and Goliat. They will also drill production wells for the fields.