Norway's Equinor started production at its oil and gas field Martin Linge in the North Sea near the maritime border with Britain, the company said on July 1.

The field holds an estimated recoverable resources of about 260 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), and is expected to produce around 115,000 boe per day when reaches its peak in 2022.

"Martin Linge is an important contribution to Norwegian oil and gas production. Thanks to new infrastructure in this area it will be possible to realise new discoveries in the future," it said.

Natural gas from Martin Linge will be exported via pipelines to St Fergus terminal in Britain, while crude oil will be exported with shuttle tankers, Equinor said.

The field's production facilities are also supplied with power from shore via 163-kilometer long alternating current (AC) cable, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while its wells and processing equipment are operated from an onshore control room, it added.

The field was originally planned to start in 2016, but its startup has been postponed several times, including due to a fatal accident at a shipyard in South Korea and problems with pre-drilled wells.

As a result, the development costs have doubled to 63 billion Norwegian crowns (US$7.29 billion) from an original estimate of 31.5 billion crowns, Equinor said.

Equinor operates the field and holds a stake of 70%. Norway's state-owned Petoro holds the rest.

($1 = 8.6364 Norwegian crowns)

Offshore