The cost of Equinor's project to cut local emissions from Norway's Hammerfest LNG plant and extend the facility's lifetime has risen by more than 30 per cent since last December, the company said on Wednesday.
The cost estimate rose to NOK26.5 billion ($2.77 billion) from NOK20 billion seen in December, and compared to an original estimate of NOK13.2 billion in 2022.
"The project is being carried out at an operating facility and is more complex than anticipated. It has also been affected by unforeseen issues and challenges," Equinor's Senior Vice President Trond Bokn said in a statement.
The project replaces the plant's gas-fired power supply with electricity from the mainland grid and adds onshore compression capacity to produce gas from an offshore field for longer.
The measures are expected to cut local emissions by 850,000 tonnes a year, or two per cent of Norway's total.
The project is 60 per cent complete, with a new compressor due in 2029, and full electrification in 2030.
Equinor operates the plant and has a 36.8 per cent stake, while its partner Petoro has 30 per cent, TotalEnergies 18.4 per cent, Vaar Energi 12 per cent, Harbour Energy 2.8 per cent.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)
