Equinor starts up third UK development in 2019
On 6 December, Equinor UK and partners started production from Barnacle, Equinor’s third upstream development in the UK to come onstream in 2019. The field is the first in Equinor’s portfolio to be fully located in the UK while produced through existing infrastructure in Norway. The accelerated development took just 14 months from licence award to the start of production.
“Barnacle delivers value on both sides of the median line by unlocking otherwise stranded resources in the UK. The speed and success of this development relied on innovative commercial solutions and the close collaboration between partners, regulators and authorities in both the UK and Norway.
“Its successful delivery and those of Mariner and Utgard, along with our natural gas supplies and growth in offshore wind, underline our commitment to the UK as a broad energy company,” says Arne Gürtner, senior vice president for Equinor’s UK and Ireland offshore operations.
Barnacle is located in UK waters just 2 kilometres from the UK-Norway maritime border and consists of one extended reach well tied back to the Statfjord B platform.
Hege Flatheim, vice president for Statfjord operations, says, “By using our existing infrastructure we can realise smaller discoveries that would not otherwise have been profitable enough to develop. At the same time, we are adding valuable volumes to Statfjord B.”
Recoverable resources are estimated at around 2 million barrels of oil equivalent with daily production at plateau estimated at around 4,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Equinor announced the start of production from its Mariner and Utgard developments earlier this year.
- Licence owners: Equinor 44.34%, Esso 21.37%, Spirit 34.30%.
- Barnacle is located south of the Statfjord field, in licence P2460, blocks 211/29f and 211/30c.
- The Barnacle licence was awarded in October 2018 in the 30th Offshore Licencing Round in the UK
- Expected lifetime: 2025
- Extended reach well approximately 6.7km in length
- In addition to Barnacle, Equinor’s UK upstream portfolio includes Mariner, Utgard, Bressay and more recently, the Rosebank project.
- Equinor is the largest supplier of crude oil to the UK and the largest supplier of natural gas. Equinor’s gas supplies meet more than 25% of UK demand, enough to heat or power eight million British homes and businesses every year.
- Equinor’s operated offshore wind farms (Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon and Hywind Scotland) together supply electricity to 650,000 UK homes. Hywind Scotland is the first floating offshore wind park in the world and is partnered with Batwind, the world’s first battery for offshore wind.
- Equinor, with its partner SSE Renewables, will build three offshore wind projects at Dogger Bank which together will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. At 3.6 gigawatts, it has the potential to provide electricity to 4.5 million homes in the UK.