Equinor announced in a press release on Dec. 15 that the company brought Phase 2 of its Johan Sverdrup field project online.

The project consists of a new platform, five new subsea systems and 28 new wells, as well as a new module for the existing riser platform and facilities to send power to the Utsira High area from the shore.

The company predicts that every third Norwegian oil barrel will come from the Johan Sverdrup field once it reaches its plateau production at 720,000 bbl/d of oil. It aims to eventually raise production to 755,000 bbl/d, according to the release.

Equinor also believes that the field alone can meet 6%-7% of Europe's daily oil demand, with recoverable volumes totaling 2.7 Bboe.

"This is a red-letter day for us and our partners, Aker BP, Petoro and TotalEnergies, but also for Norway and Europe," executive vice president for Projects, Drilling & Procurement Geir Tungesvik said in the release. "Johan Sverdrup accounts for large and important energy deliveries, and in the current market situation, most of the volumes will go to Europe."

The field gets its electricity from the Haugsneset field through cables, the first of which supplies the first four platforms while the other cable will supply the new platform and other Utsire High installations.

Through the electrification of the platforms, Equinor reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 1.2 million tonnes per year, according to Marianne M. Bjelland, the compay's vice president, exploration and production, the Johan Sverdrup and Martin Linge areas.

"Electrification is an important measure to further developing the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) towards the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," she commented in the release.

The Johan Sverdrup field has been in production for over three years since Phase 1 came on stream on Oct. 5, 2019. Equinor is the operator, holding a 42.6267% stake, while partners Aker BP, Petoro AS and TotalEnergies EP Norge AS hold 31.5733%, 31.5733% and 8.44% respectively.