oleocene.org

Equinor and partners to invest over $1.2bn in Fram Sør project in Norway
The Fram Sør project unites multiple discoveries to extract oil and gas via Troll C, with 116 million barrels anticipated.

Swagath Bandhakavi 27th Jun 2025


llustration of Equinor’s Fram Sør project. (Credit: Equinor ASA)

Equinor and its partners in the Fram project have announced an investment exceeding NOK21bn ($1.2bn) for the Fram Sør project, a new subsea development aimed at enhancing oil and gas exports to Europe from the Fram and Troll area.

The development plan for this new North Sea project was officially submitted to the Norwegian Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland.

Equinor Energy holds a 45% stake in the partnership, followed by Vår Energi with 40%, and INPEX Idemitsu Norge at 15%.

The Fram Sør project combines multiple discoveries for the extraction of oil and gas via Troll C, with expected recoverable volumes totalling 116 million barrels of oil equivalent—comprising 75% oil and 25% gas. The commencement of production is anticipated by the end of 2029.

A notable feature of this development is its low CO2 intensity, projected at approximately 0.5 kg of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalent. This contrasts with an average of 8 kg on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and an industry average of about 16 kg, according to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers’ 2023 data.

The Fram Sør area has seen significant activity since Equinor and partners discovered oil and gas there in autumn 2019. The Echino South discovery led to further exploration, resulting in nine findings over four years in the Troll-Fram vicinity.

In spring 2021, the Blasto discovery, along with two smaller previous finds, laid the foundation for the Fram Sør initiative.

Equinor exploration and production Norway executive vice president Kjetil Hove said: “We have done a thorough job maturing the new resources discovered in the Fram and Troll area in recent years.

“Fram Sør shows the importance of area solutions and close collaboration between partners and authorities in order to realise the resource values on a mature NCS. We have a large portfolio of projects that will phase in discoveries to our producing fields. Equinor expects to put more than 50 such projects on stream by 2035.”

The Fram Sør project is planned to use all-electric Christmas trees, thereby eliminating hydraulic fluid use from platforms and enhancing subsea equipment monitoring. This innovation potentially minimises environmental impact while offering efficient operation, said Equinor.

According to Equinor, the project is set to benefit the Norwegian supply industry throughout its development and operational phases. A ripple effect study from Kunnskapsparken in Bodø estimates it will create 4,500 full-time equivalent jobs in Norway during development.

Although most suppliers are based in Norway, some construction will occur abroad.

Contracts related to the project are valued at approximately NOK18bn ($1.8bn), pending regulatory approvals.

Fram Sør’s subsea installations will be located about 20km north of Troll C and roughly 120km northwest of Bergen, at a water depth of around 350m. The reservoir itself is situated between depths of 1,800 to 2,800m.

The infrastructure will include four subsea templates linked back to existing Fram structures and the Troll C platform for processing.

Oil from Fram will transit through the Troll Oil Pipeline II to Mongstad, while gas will be exported to Kollsnes via the Troll A platform.

Equinor has concluded the front-end engineering design phase with four primary suppliers: OneSubsea for subsea systems; Subsea7 for marine installation; TechnipFMC for umbilicals; and Aker Solutions for platform modifications.

Further contracts for pipeline supply, fibre optic cable laying, rock installation, and rig capacity are anticipated to be awarded this year.

ConocoPhillips Confirms Slagugle Oil Discovery in Norwegian Sea

by Paul Anderson|Rigzone Staff | Friday, June 20, 2025

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate said ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS, operator of production license 891, had confirmed the Slagugle oil discovery.

The second appraisal well, 6507/5-12 S, was drilled about 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) northeast of the Heidrun field and about 270 kilometers (168 miles) north of Kristiansund.

This is the third exploration well in production license 891, awarded in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) in 2016, the Directorate said in its notice.

The Directorate reported that the Slagugle oil discovery, proven in 2020, holds an estimated 4.9 to 9.8 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent (approximately 30.8 to 61.6 million barrels of oil equivalent) in Triassic reservoir rocks. Additional potential volumes exist in the lower Are Formation and Upper Grey Beds. Licensees will now analyze the data to assess a possible development.
....................

Project development firm created for Norwegian SMR plant

Friday, 25 April 2025

A new company, Trondheimsleia Kjernekraft AS, has been founded in partnership between the future host municipalities of Aure and Heim, local energy company NEAS and Norsk Kjernekraft to develop a power plant based on multiple small modular reactors.


The proposed location for the SMR plant (Image: Norsk Kjernekraft)

Norsk Kjernekraft submitted a proposal to Norway's Ministry of Energy in November 2023 for an assessment into the construction of the small modular reactor (SMR) plant. According to the preliminary plan, the plant will be located in a common industrial area - the Taftøy industrial park - in the border area between Aure and Heim in Trøndelag county. The plant is planned to consist of several SMRs, with a total generating capacity of up to 1500 MWe, if the plant is realised in its entirety.

"With the establishment of the company, we are now positioning our region well to realise our ambitions to cut greenhouse gas emissions while preserving our nature," said mayors Marit Liabø Sandvik (AP) and Henning Torset (H) in a joint statement. "These goals must be met without compromising local jobs. Nuclear power can meet the ever-increasing demand for power while meeting all the other goals, and was therefore considered a good alternative. The reception among the local population has been good so far, and we will work to ensure that this continues."

"The dialogue with residents, businesses and politicians in Heim and Aure municipalities has been very constructive and good. The municipalities were early in initiating the process for nuclear power, including by notifying the Ministry of Energy of a study programme, and are thus very well placed to be among the first plants in Norway," said Norsk Kjernekraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer. "By the municipalities now also taking on the ownership role, transparency and public ownership of the plant are ensured. The plant could have a lifespan of up to 100 years, so this is value creation from a generational perspective. The grandchildren of children born today will actually be able to have their jobs at the plant."

NEAS CEO Knut Hansen added: "Møre og Romsdal is a region with power-intensive industry, and new power production in the region has long been the most important challenge to enable further growth. With this plant, all new needs will be met for a long time to come and companies will be able to see the opportunities for development and cuts in greenhouse gas emissions."

Earlier this month, the Norwegian government commissioned several agencies to develop an Environmental Impact Assessment programme for the proposed SMR power plant in Aure and Heim. Recommendations are expected before the summer, and no later than September.

"If all goes according to plan, investigations will be able to begin as early as this year," Norsk Kjernekraft said. "If the project is realised in its entirety, it will correspond to almost 10% of all Norwegian power production and all developed wind power in Norway as of today."

Norsk Kjernekraft aims to build, own and operate SMR power plants in Norway in collaboration with power-intensive industry. It says it will prepare licence applications in accordance with national regulations and international standards. It will follow the International Atomic Energy Agency's approach for milestones, and focus on what creates value in the early phase. Financing will take place in collaboration with capital-strong industry and solid financial players.

Aure and Heim is one of four possible locations for a nuclear power plant that Norsk Kjernekraft has announced, the other municipalities being Vardø, Øygarden and Halden.

In June 2024, the Norwegian government appointed a committee to conduct a broad review and assessment of various aspects of a possible future establishment of nuclear power in the country. It must deliver its report by 1 April 2026.

Norvège: le fonds souverain a perdu 35 milliards d'euros au premier trimestre

Boursorama avec AFP •24/04/2025

Le fonds souverain de la Norvège, le plus gros au monde, a perdu 415 milliards de couronnes (environ 35 milliards d'euros) au premier trimestre, plombé en grande partie par les valeurs tech, a-t-il annoncé jeudi.

"Le trimestre a été marqué par d'importantes fluctuations des marchés. Nos investissements en actions ont enregistré un rendement négatif", soit -0,6%, "en grande partie en raison du secteur technologique", a déclaré son chef Nicolai Tangen, cité dans un communiqué.

En outre, la valeur du fonds a chuté sous l'effet du renforcement de la couronne norvégienne face à plusieurs des principales devises.

"Ces mouvements de change ont contribué à une baisse de la valeur du fonds de 879 milliards de couronnes", a précisé le fonds souverain.

Globalement, le fonds a perdu 1.215 milliards de couronnes durant le trimestre, portant sa valeur à 18.526 milliards (1 .559 milliards d'euros).

Les placements en actions représentent 70% de son portefeuille au 31 mars 2025, ses placements obligataires 27,7% et les investissements immobiliers, 1,9%.

Alimenté par les revenus pétroliers de l'Etat norvégien, le fonds est présent au capital de quelque 9.000 entreprises à travers le monde, soit 1,5% de la capitalisation boursière mondiale.

Ses parts dans les "Sept Magnifiques" - Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (maison mère de Google), Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Microsoft, Nvidia et Tesla- représentent une part importante de ses placements boursiers.

M. Tangen avait dit fin janvier, à la publication des résultats annuels, "nous devons apprendre à vivre avec un risque de concentration plus élevé que dans le passé, et je ne pense pas qu'il y ait grand-chose qu'on puisse faire".

mobar a écrit : ↑

03 avr. 2025, 18:32

Les montants de production d'un champ dépendent plus de la demande des marchés que du potentiel de production de ce champ
Les exploitante n'ont que faire de produire beaucoup, ce qui les intéresse c'est de maximiser les revenus et de faire durer l'exploitation à moindre cout le plus longtemps possible

Rien ne sert de tuer la poule aux œufs d'or il faut la faire produire un max pendant le plus longtemps possible quand le prix du brut est élevé

mobar a écrit : ↑

04 avr. 2025, 07:58

ça c'est quand le prix évolue comme l'inflation, pas quand il augmente plus que l'inflation
Et le moteur de l'inflation, c'est l'énergie puis les salaires

tita a écrit : ↑

06 mai 2024, 11:11

Petit regard sur les statistiques norvégiennes. En 2023, la production moyenne annuelle était de 1.8 Mb/j. C'est la plus élevée depuis 2010 où c'était à peu près équivalent. En 2022, la production moyenne était de 1.7 Mb/j. Le gros boost vient de Johan Sverdrup, dont la production était 711 kb/j en 2023, contre 500 kb/j en 2022. 40% de la production norvégienne repose sur ce champ, l'ensemble des autres étant globalement en déclin. Sans ce champ ouvert en 2019, la production norvégienne serait à 1.1 Mb/j, son niveau de 1988.

En 2024, la production de Johan Castberg devrait débuter. C'est pas un énorme champ, mais il devrait permettre de maintenir la production norvégienne au niveau actuel, vu que la prod de Johan Sverdrup ne va plus augmenter et que les autres champs vont continuer à décliner.

Un truc que je trouve intéressant. En 2019, il y avait ~10 champs dont la production était de 50kb/j ou plus. En 2023, ça s'est réduit à 4 champs. Il y a une augmentation du nombre de petits champs qui produisent.

Johan Castberg devient le champ pétrolier offshore le plus septentrional exploité dans le monde

Equinor a fait part le 31 mars de la mise en huile, en mer de Barents, du grand gisement Johan Castberg, qui devient le champ pétrolier offshore le plus au nord exploité à travers le monde.

Norway Gas Production Up Month on Month

by Jov Onsat|Rigzone Staff | Monday, March 24, 2025

Norway produced 355.1 million standard cubic meters a day (MMscmd) of natural gas in February, beating the official forecast by 3.8 percent and rising from January’s 346.1 Mmscmd, the country’s upstream regulator has reported.

However, last month’s gas output is lower than the 360.4 MMscmd logged for February 2024, according to figures published online by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.

The Nordic country, the European Union’s biggest source of pipeline gas, sold 9.9 billion standard cubic meters (Bscm) February 2025, down 800 MMscm from January 2025.

Meanwhile Norway’s oil production in February 2025 averaged 1.72 million barrels per day (MMbd), falling from January’s 1.78 MMbd but beating the projection by 1.3 percent.

Earlier this month Equinor ASA said it has put the Halten East field in the Norwegian Sea onstream, unlocking new gas for Europe.

“We are starting up Halten East at a time where piped gas from Norway is in high demand and important for energy security”, Geir Tungesvik, executive vice president for projects, drilling and procurement at Equinor, said in a company statement March 17.

Halten East, a tie-in to be developed in two phases, holds about 100 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable reserves, according to the Norwegian majority state-owned energy company.

The development, which has an estimated investment of NOK 9 billion ($856.67 million), targets six discoveries and potentially three more prospects. It uses existing infrastructure deployed for Åsgard, another Equinor-operated field that started up 1999. “The second phase is planned in 2029”, Equinor said.

The gas will be sent to the Kårstø terminal, from which it will be shipped via pipeline to European buyers.

Norway set a new gas production record in 2024 with 124 Bscm sold, compared to the previous record of 122.8 Bscm sold in 2022.

“The high production in 2024 was caused by high regularity on the fields and increased capacity following upgrades in 2023”, the Directorate said in a report on its website.

Norway’s total oil and gas production last year was the highest since 2009, reaching 240 MMscm of oil equivalent, according to the Directorate. The Troll and Johan Sverdrup fields in the North Sea contribute about 37 percent of hydrocarbon production on Norway’s continental shelf, the Directorate said.

Troll produced a record 42.5 Bscm of gas 2024. The figure is equivalent to about three times Norway’s hydropower production in a normal year, according to operator Equinor.

DNO Announces 'Important' Oil, Gas Discovery in North Sea

by Andreas Exarheas|Rigzone Staff | Thursday, March 27, 2025

In a statement posted on its site on Wednesday, Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO ASA announced “an important oil and gas discovery in Northern North Sea license PL1182 S”.

The discovery was made in Paleocene injectite sandstones “of excellent reservoir quality”, the statement highlighted. Preliminary estimates of gross recoverable resources are “in the range of 39 to 75 million barrels of oil equivalent, with a mean of 55 million barrels of oil equivalent”, the statement pointed out.

DNO noted in the statement that the Kjøttkake exploration well encountered a 41 meter (134.5 foot) oil column and a nine meter 9 (29.5 foot) gas column. A sidetrack drilled horizontally 1,350 meters (4,429 feet) westwards along the reservoir in the Sotra Formation confirmed the presence of the oil column throughout the discovery, DNO added.

“We are on a hot streak in Norway,” DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in the statement.

“Our latest and most exciting discovery this year, Kjøttkake, is close to existing infrastructure in the Troll-Gjøa area, and we will be relentless in pursuing its commercialization,” Mossavar-Rahmani added.

DNO highlighted in the statement that Kjøttkake is the company’s tenth discovery since 2021 in the “Troll-Gjøa exploration and development hotspot”. This find follows the company’s Røver Nord, Kveikje, Ofelia, Røver Sør, Heisenberg, Carmen, Kyrre, Cuvette and Ringand discoveries, DNO pointed out in the statement.
.....................

Studies continue into SMR deployment in Lund

A new company is being established to further investigate the possibility of establishing a nuclear power plant based on small modular reactors in the municipality of Lund in the southern Norwegian county of Rogaland.

Friday, 14 February 2025

In July last year, Norwegian nuclear project developer Norsk Kjernekraft - which aims to build, own and operate small modular reactor (SMR) power plants in Norway in collaboration with power-intensive industry - signed a cooperation agreement with Lund to consider the construction of such a plant in the area. Since then, thorough preliminary studies have been carried out, which show that the area has several suitable locations where a plant could be built.

The new company - named Dalane Kjernekraft AS - is being established in a partnership between Lund Municipality, Dalane Energi and Norsk Kjernekraft.

The company will operate according to the same model as Halden Kjernekraft AS. That company - founded by Norsk Kjernekraft, Østfold Energi and the municipality of Halden - is investigating the construction of a nuclear power plant based on SMRs at Halden, where a research reactor once operated.

Dalane Kjernekraft will initially continue its investigations and then select a location for an impact assessment. If the impact assessment yields positive results and shows that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, the next step will be to prepare a licence application that can provide the basis for a possible start of construction. "If the studies yield a positive outcome, an SMR could be ready for operation around the mid-2030s," Norsk Kjernekraft said.

"The Dalane region needs more clean energy to succeed with development and restructuring," said Lund's mayor Gro Helleland. "A nuclear power plant in Lund will benefit the entire region in terms of attractiveness and increased activity for both business and local communities. Consideration of natural intervention has been crucial in our choice of energy solution. A nuclear power plant can produce as much energy as Norway's largest wind farm at Fosen, but only requires an area equivalent to a football stadium. We believe the time is ripe for an open and fact-based investigation, in which Lund's residents should be closely involved in the process."

"Lund Municipality is leading the way as a good example of how Norway can meet both climate goals and nature conservation at the same time," said Norsk Kjernekraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer. "So far, we have been in dialogue with nearly 90 Norwegian municipalities, but Lund Municipality is one of the fastest and is well ahead in the queue to become a host municipality for an SMR.

"Globally, a nuclear power renaissance is now taking place, and never before has interest in this been greater in Norway. Through Dalane Kjernekraft, Lund can show Norway how municipalities can be strengthened through real sustainability in practice."

In June 2024, the Norwegian government appointed a committee to conduct a broad review and assessment of various aspects of a possible future establishment of nuclear power in the country. It must deliver its report by 1 April 2026.

Norvège: le fonds souverain affiche des gains record en 2024 grâce aux "Sept Magnifiques"

AFP le 29 janvier 2025

Le fonds souverain de la Norvège, le plus gros au monde, a affiché des résultats record l'an dernier, gagnant près de 7.000 euros par seconde, dopé par ses placements dans les "Sept Magnifiques" dont la domination est toutefois contestée aujourd'hui.

En données brutes, c'est le plus gros rendement de son histoire: 2.511 milliards de couronnes (214 milliards d'euros), soit près de 80.000 couronnes par seconde, ce qui a contribué à porter sa valeur totale à 19.742 milliards de couronnes à la fin de l'année.

"Ca a été une très bonne année pour le fonds", s'est félicité son chef, Nicolai Tangen, lors d'une présentation. "Cela ne durera pas une éternité", a-t-il toutefois ajouté comme à son accoutumée.

En pourcentage, le rendement s'est élevé à 13%, loin des 21,3% engrangés en 2023.

Comme cette année-là, le fonds a été en grande partie porté par les valeurs technologiques.

Ce secteur lui a rapporté plus de 1.170 milliards de couronnes en 2024, soit près de la moitié de ses gains annuels.

Si le fonds est présent au capital de quelque 9.000 entreprises à travers le monde, ses parts dans les "Sept Magnifiques" -Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (maison mère de Google), Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Microsoft, Nvidia et Tesla- représentent à elles seules 17% de ses placements boursiers.

"Nous devons apprendre à vivre avec un risque de concentration plus élevé que dans le passé, et je ne pense pas qu'il y ait grand-chose qu'on puisse faire", a estimé M. Tangen.

Illustration de ce risque, les valeurs tech se sont effondrées à Wall Street lundi -avant de se reprendre quelque peu mardi-, après l'arrivée sur le devant de la scène de la start-up chinoise d'intelligence artificielle DeepSeek.

Celle-ci a sorti la semaine dernière un nouveau modèle d'IA générative similaire à ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google) et d'autres, pour une fraction des coûts induits par les géants américains.

- Accident de parcours? -

"Est-ce un simple accident de parcours ou quelque chose de plus grave? Bien sûr, on ne sait pas", a commenté le chef du fonds norvégien au sujet du plongeon du début de semaine.

Evoquant les valorisations vertigineuses des géants de la tech américaine, son numéro deux, Trond Grande, a quant à lui estimé que ces actions étaient "chères" mais, a-t-il précisé, "je ne suis pas sûr que ce soit une bulle".

Le fonds n'a pas procédé à des "changements majeurs" dans ses placements depuis le trou d'air boursier de lundi, a précisé M. Tangen.

Tous secteurs confondus, les actions, qui représentaient 71,4% du portefeuille du fonds fin 2024, ont rapporté 18% sur l'année.

Les placements obligataires (26,6% du portefeuille) ont pour leur part affiché un modeste rendement de 1%.

En revanche, les investissements immobiliers (1,8% des actifs) et les placements dans les projets d'énergies renouvelables (un actif encore marginal) sont tombés dans le rouge, affichant des rendements de -1% et -10% respectivement.

Alimenté par les revenus pétroliers de l'Etat norvégien, le fonds est le plus gros investisseur individuel de la planète.

Outre le rendement de ses investissements, sa valeur fluctue en fonction des versements -ou ponctions- du gouvernement norvégien et les effets de change, deux facteurs qui ont aussi eu un effet positif l'an dernier.