Equinor's FPSO Arrives in Johan Castberg in Barents Sea

Equinor ASA’s floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) has arrived at the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea.

Equinor will start connecting the FPSO to the area’s subsea facilities, preparing it for production start-up towards the end of the year, the company said in a news release. The FPSO’s storage capacity is 1.1 million barrels of oil.

The Johan Castberg field is located approximately 62.1 miles (100 kilometers) north of the Snøhvit field. It is a large oil field with estimated recoverable volumes of between 450 million and 650 million barrels.

The field will produce for 30 years, and at its peak, Johan Castberg has the potential to produce 220,000 barrels per day, according to the release.

The field development concept includes 30 wells distributed across ten subsea templates and two satellites that will now be tied back to the FPSO. So far, 13 of these wells have been drilled, and drilling operations will continue into 2026, Equinor said.

Johan Castberg is located 149 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Hammerfest. The field has a supply and helicopter base in Hammerfest and an operations organization in Harstad.

"This is an important milestone for Equinor and its partners Vår Energi and Petoro. Johan Castberg strengthens Norway's role as a reliable, long-term energy supplier. The field will create great value for society, and long-term ripple effects and jobs. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed," Trond Bokn, Equinor's senior vice president for project management control, said.

"Johan Castberg is important for our development plans in Northern Norway. When the field comes on stream, a new province will be opened for oil recovery in the Barents Sea. This provides new opportunities for the exploration for and development of new discoveries in the area. Working with our partners we are already maturing five discoveries towards a possible tie-in to Johan Castberg," Grete Birgitte Haaland, Equinor's senior vice president for Northern Norway, said.

The resource base for developing the Johan Castberg field consists of three oil discoveries: Skrugard, Havis, and Drivis, all of which are located in production license 532 and are operated by Equinor.

The Johan Castberg field development provides important infrastructure in a new oil province in the Barents Sea, and new volumes have been discovered in the area. Five more discoveries are being considered to be tied to Johan Castberg, and Equinor plans for further exploration in the areas around Johan Castberg in the years to come, it said.

Equinor owns a 50 percent interest in the Johan Castberg field, with Var Energi ASA and Petoro AS holding 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

In September 2023, Equinor said that estimated investment costs for its flagship Johan Castberg project had risen by almost $1.2 billion (NOK 13 billion) since 2022 to $7.38 billion (NOK 80 billion).

The main reason for the increase in the investment estimate from last year is that the workload transferred to Stord has been more comprehensive and complex than estimated, Equinor said. Marine operations, drilling, and completion costs have also increased due to “market cost development”, and “the project has not progressed as planned”, Equinor said in an earlier news release.

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