Norwegian energy giant Equinor has awarded contracts worth around NOK 6bn ($612m) for four subsea projects.
They are part of the first of several planned subsea development waves, in which contracts are being coordinated to increase pace and reduce costs for subsea developments on the Norwegian continental shelf.
“We envisage around 75 subsea developments towards 2035. To realise these resources, we need to develop smaller discoveries faster and at a lower cost than today. Our ambition is to halve both costs and execution time through simpler processes and standardised solutions together with our partners and suppliers,” says Gunnar Nakken, SVP for projects and subsea on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in Equinor.
Together, the four projects will contribute between 130 and 220 million barrels of oil equivalent to future production from the NCS.
TechnipFMC will deliver subsea production systems for Brime, Omega Sør, and Tyrihans Nord. They will also install rigid pipelines on the Troll field. The linepipe will be supplied by Tenaris.
OneSubsea will deliver the subsea production system for the TWIN project, as well as umbilicals for all the projects. Ocean Installer has been awarded the contract for marine operations. They will install and connect the subsea facilities, control cables and flexible pipelines. NOV will deliver flexible pipelines to Omega Sør, Tyrihans Nord, and Brime.
“We order standard equipment that can be used by later projects if one of the projects in the first wave is not sanctioned by the partnership or approved by the authorities,” added Nakken.
The TWIN project will be tied back to Troll A, and Omega Sør to Snorre A. Tyrihans Nord is planned to be produced via the Kristin platform, while Brime will be tied back to Gullfaks C via the existing Visund Sør seabed template. So far, only the TWIN project has been sanctioned.
TWIN, or Troll West Increased gas recovery North, is the third step in a phased development of the gas cap in Troll West. The partnership has decided to invest just over NOK 4bn in the project, which will contribute around 11bn cubic metres of gas.
Brime is planned to be developed with four. It also provides the basis for a possible phased development of Nøkken, planned as a sidetrack from two of the wells at Brime. Recoverable volumes are estimated at 16–34m barrels of oil equivalent.
Omega Sør is an oil discovery made near the Snorre field in spring 2026, with recoverable volumes then estimated at between 25 and 89m barrels.
Tyrihans Nord is a 1984 discovery planned to be developed with two wells in a new template connected to the existing production pipeline between the Tyrihans subsea field and the Kristin platform in the Norwegian Sea. Volumes are estimated at between 20m and 30m barrels of oil equivalent, with gas accounting for the majority.
Sissel is included in the first wave. The discovery was made in January this year. The well will be drilled through the existing Utgard template. Volumes are currently estimated at between 6 and 28m barrels of oil equivalent.