Equinor’s Martin Linge field has been officially opened offshore Norway’s coast. The gas will be transported through a new pipeline connecting the field to the existing pipeline going to St. Fergus, Scotland.
The plan for development and operation of Martin Linge was submitted to the authorities in January 2012 and approved by the Norwegian parliament in June the same year. Martin Linge came on stream on 30 June 30 2021.
Since the field came on stream, it has had good operational performance. Along with high oil and gas prices, the investments in the field are expected to be recovered in full during 2022.
Capital expenditures in the Martin Linge field totalled NOK 63 billion, compared with NOK 31.5 billion in the plan for development and operation (PDO) from 2012.
Anders Opedal, President and CEO of Equinor said the development has been a very challenging project to put on stream, as significant challenges were encountered in the development phase.
The main reservoir is structurally complex and contains gas and condensate at high pressure and high temperature (HPHT).
“Thanks to competent colleagues, good suppliers, and good collaboration with our partner Petoro and the authorities, the field was efficiently and safely put on stream last year. The field is now producing very efficiently.”
Since production started in June last year, Martin Linge has delivered world-class production efficiency for a new field in the start-up phase.
The expected recoverable resources are about 260 million barrels of oil equivalent. At plateau the field will produce around 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent, mainly gas and condensate. The field is expected to reach plateau production during 2022.
Martin Linge is the first platform to be put on stream by Equinor from an onshore control room. The wells and the process are operated from the control room in Stavanger. The offshore operators use tablets in the field to collaborate with the onshore control room and the operations teams onshore.
Digital solutions provide early indications of potential failures in the facilities, enabling reduced operational costs and optimalization of energy consumption.
The Martin Linge platform receives shore power via the world’s longest alternating-current sea cable measuring 162 kilometres from an onshore substation to the platform. Because of this, emissions from the field are low (about 1 kg of CO2 per barrel).
