Equinor to develop Eirin natural gas field in North Sea

(WO) – Equinor has submitted a plan for development and operation (PDO) of the Eirin natural gas field to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Recoverable reserves in the field are estimated at 27.6 MMboe, most of which is natural gas. The Eirin field, which was discovered in 1978, will be developed as a subsea facility tied to the Gina Krog platform in the North Sea. Total investments are estimated at just over NOK 4 billion ($0.37 billion).

“Utilising Gina Krog’s infrastructure will enable Eirin to bring new gas to Europe fast, with good profitability and low CO2 emissions from production. The development will extend Gina Krog’s productive life from 2029 to 2036, and will be vital for the Sleipner area,” says Camilla Salthe, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Field Life Extension (FLX).

When the energy crisis struck in 2021, there was close cooperation with Norwegian authorities to deliver as much gas as possible to Europe.

Increased natural gas export from Gina Krog, by exporting gas that was previously injected to improve oil recovery, was an important contribution. At the same time, this brought the need to accelerate projects to extend the field life.

Eirin is a central part of this work, and the project has matured in record time. Production start-up is expected as early as 2025.

“Extending Gina Krog’s productive life also gives us the opportunity to mature additional new reserves in the area. We’re still seeing possibilities for new discoveries, which is why Eirin’s new subsea facility will enable tie-in of new fields,” says Ketil Rongved, Equinor’s vice president for FLX Projects.

With electrification of Gina Krog and partial electrification of Sleipner, production from Eirin will have low emissions, just three kilo of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalents.

Eirin is a natural gas field located 250 km west of Stavanger. The field was proven in 1978 and was long part of the Gina Krog field development, but was later put on hold and is situated at a depth of approximately 4000 meters. Water depth at the field is approximately 120 meters.

The field will be developed as a subsea facility, which will be adapted and ready for tie-in of future discoveries in the area, including an optional expansion for two to four new wells. The development solution is a subsea template tied back to Gina Krog through a production flowline and an umbilical.

Lead photo: The Gina Krog platform in the North Sea (Photo: Øyvind Torjusen / Equinor)