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      Equinor To Develop Arctic Gas Project To Boost Exports To Europe

      Equinor To Develop Arctic Gas Project To Boost Exports To Europe

      1. Equinor and its partners Petoro, Wintershall Dea, and Shell plan to invest $1.44 billion to develop the Irpa gas field in the Arctic circle.
      2. Irpa is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2026 and produce gas until 2039.
      3. New oil and gas development projects will help Norway maintain a relatively high level of oil and gas production until 2030.

      Norway’s energy giant Equinor will invest the equivalent of $1.44 billion with its partners to develop the Irpa gas field north of the Arctic circle in the Norwegian Sea and export the gas to Europe.

      Equinor and its partners Petoro, Wintershall Dea, and Shell plan to invest $1.44 billion (14.8 billion Norwegian crowns) to develop the gas field, which was proven in 2009 and is in deep water in the Norwegian Sea. Expected recoverable gas resources are estimated at approximately 124 million barrels of oil equivalent or the consumption of nearly 2.4 million British households over a period of seven years, Equinor said in a statement on Tuesday.

      Irpa is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2026 and produce gas until 2039, according to the field development plan submitted to the Norwegian authorities. The discovery will be developed with three wells and an 80-kilometer (50 miles) pipeline to the Aasta Hansteen platform.

      “This is a good day—the development of Irpa will contribute to predictable and long-term deliveries of gas to customers in the EU and the UK,” said Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s executive vice president for Projects, Drilling and Procurement 

      Natural gas production in Norway, which supplies around 25% of the gas consumed in the EU and the UK, is expected to rise by 8 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, the government’s latest estimates showed.

      This summer, Norway’s authorities approved applications from operators to boost production from several operating gas fields, to allow higher gas production as its key partners, the EU and the UK, scrambled for gas supply ahead of the winter. The Energy and Petroleum Ministry approved applications from operators on the Norwegian shelf and allowed higher gas production from the Troll, Gina Krog, Duva, Oseberg, Åsgard, and Mikkel fields. The ministry has also granted a production permit for the Nova gas field, which is expected to start up in the near future.  

      New oil and gas development projects will help Norway maintain a relatively high level of oil and gas production until 2030 and continue to be a stable energy supplier to Europe, Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Aasland, said last month, commenting on the government’s draft budget which expects record-high petroleum revenues in 2023.    

      By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com