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.

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.” Alex Schneiter, 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.

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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 500 Mbopd with potential for further increase by mid-2021 on completion of modification work to increase water injection capacity. The production will increase to 720 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, which in addition is being operated with power from shore making it one of the most carbon efficient fields in the world, with CO₂ emissions of below 1 kg per barrel, about one-twentieth of 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.