Norwegian state-held oil and gas company Equinor (formerly known as Statoil) has reduced the estimated investments scheduled for its operated offshore Norway projects in development phase by a total of NOK30bn (approximately €3.2bn) since the submission of their development plans to the government. The reduction in costs has been achieved mainly thanks to increased efficiency in drilling and project schedule simplification. Besides, the market impact also played a role in the process.
Equinor-operated projects that are included in the reporting to the National Budget are the following Aasta Hansteen, Bauge, Johan Castberg, Johan Sverdrup fase 1, Martin Linge, Njord Future, Oseberg Vestflanken 2, Snorre Expansion, Trestakk and Utgard. Equinor took over the operatorship for the Martin Linge project in March 2018 and has conducted a thorough review of the project, due to start in the first quarter of 2020; the group has assessed the remaining scope of work and has raised its investment in the project by NOK 3.6bn (€380m) to NOK 47.1bn (€5bn).