Johan Sverdrup – in a league of its own
The Johan Sverdrup discovery is one of the largest oil discoveries made on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and will prolong the life of the Norwegian oil industry for several decades, generating revenue and providing jobs for generations to come. In addition, all of our barrels from the field are certified as carbon neutrally produced.
All of our barrels are certified as carbon neutrally produced
All of our net production from Johan Sverdrup is certified as carbon neutrally produced by Intertek Group plc (Intertek) under the CarbonZeroTM standard. The field is the second in Norway (the first being the Edvard Grieg field) to have its full life of field emissions independently certified by Intertek, under its CarbonClearTM standard, at 0.45 kg CO2e per boe, one of the lowest carbon intensities in the world.
To supply a fully carbon neutrally produced barrel, residual emissions are neutralised through high quality, natural carbon capture projects, certified by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)1. As a result, from June 2021, no net carbon emissions are released to the atmosphere during the production of Lundin Energy’s Johan Sverdrup barrels.
1 Carbon credits sourced from reforestation and afforestation projects in Ghana (project ID: VCS 987, ~5 kt CO2e, vintage 2018–2019) and Mexico (project ID: VCS 1141, ~17 kt CO2e, vintage: 2014–2019)
Emissions from the field
> Read more about our carbon neutrally produced barrels in our press release here
> Discover the benefits of carbon neutrally produced oil here
> Get more details on the CarbonZero™ certification on Intertek’s website
Unlocking the secrets of the Utsira High
During the past 40 years the Utsira High Area in the Norwegian North Sea was explored by several companies without any notable success. It was not until 2007 that Lundin Energy discovered the Edvard Grieg field and with it developed a deeper technical understanding and in-depth knowledge of the underlying geology. This, in combination with the persistency of Hans Christen Rønnevik and his exploration team, convinced us that the Utsira High Area still had vast potential. With the support of an entrepreneurial management team, the dots were connected and the Johan Sverdrup field was discovered. Our success story went from strength to strength.
Following the Johan Sverdrup oil discovery in 2010, an extensive appraisal progamme was conducted to determine the extent of the field. “The field exceeded all our expectations with excellent reservoir quality and significantly larger resources than estimated.” Nick Walker, President and CEO of Lundin Energy comments. In 2015, the Norwegian authorities approved the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) and only 9 years after the first discovery, first oil was achieved on 5 October 2019, ahead of schedule and below budget.
> find more Johan Sverdrup videos on our YouTube channel
Sustainable and efficient production
It took 40 years to unlock the secret of the Utsira High, a secret that has transformed Lundin Energy and the wider Norwegian oil and gas industry. Today the Johan Sverdrup field is estimated to hold gross reserves of between 2.2 and 3.2 billion boe, making it one of the largest discoveries made on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Since production started, the gross Phase 1 production capacity has been lifted in two steps and now sits at 535 Mbopd. The production will increase to 755 Mbopd after Phase 2 commences production in the fourth quarter of 2022. At its peak, the field will account for around one third of all petroleum production in Norway.
The production will flow through one of the world’s most advanced and efficient production platforms, operated with power from shore. This makes it one of the most carbon efficient fields in the world, with CO2 emissions of 0.45 kg per barrel, about 35 times less than the world average.
Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 progressing according to plan
The Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 development project involves a second processing platform, subsea facilities to access the Avaldsnes, Kvitsøy and Geitungen satellite areas of the field and the drilling of 28 additional wells. The PDO for Phase 2 project was approved in May 2019 and is progressing according to plan with first oil expected in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Powered from shore
Power supply for the Johan Sverdrup field is mainly from land-based hydropower, which will reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by between 80 to 90 percent, when compared with a standard development procedure involving gas turbines on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In addition, energy efficient solutions are being given priority in order to reduce total energy consumption making Johan Sverdrup one of the most carbon efficient fields in the world.
