Var Energi’s Jotun FPSO Heads for North Sea for Balder X Project

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Var Energi’s Jotun FPSO Heads for North Sea for Balder X Project

Vår Energi’s Jotun floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) has started making its way from the Worley Rosenberg yard in Stavanger to the Balder field in the North Sea. The Balder X project is on track for the start of production by the end of the second quarter, with an expected three-to-four-month ramp up […]

Vår Energi’s Jotun floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) has started making its way from the Worley Rosenberg yard in Stavanger to the Balder field in the North Sea.

The Balder X project is on track for the start of production by the end of the second quarter, with an expected three-to-four-month ramp up period to peak production, the company said in a news release, adding that all 14 production wells have been completed.

The FPSO vessel will perform inclination tests at the quayside before being towed to Åmøyfjorden, near Stavanger, for inshore sea trials and anchor installation work. The vessel will then be towed to the field for installation, hook-up to the installed subsea production systems and final commissioning.

Var Energi said the Jotun FPSO creates an opportunity to optimize the infrastructure in the area, including taking the Balder floating production unit (FPU) to shore for decommissioning, and the planned electrification of the Balder/Grane Area, reducing unit production costs and carbon emissions for the company.

The Balder X project develops gross proved plus probable (2P) reserves of 150 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). In addition, with the Jotun FPSO installed as an area host, Vår Energi said it plans to add new production through infill drilling, exploration and tie-back developments with a short time to market.

“As one of the fastest growing oil and gas companies globally, we are set for transformative growth in 2025, and are on track to reach above 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the fourth quarter. Balder X is a key element to this plan and once the Jotun FPSO comes on stream, production from the field will be close to quadrupled, adding around 80,000 boepd gross at peak,” Var Energi CEO Nick Walker said.

“Balder X, with a payback time of around two years, including the sanctioned Balder Phase V project, marks the start of a new era in the North Sea, extending the lifetime of the first production licence PL001 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to 2045 and beyond, and opens a wide potential for continued value creation,” he added.

“We have continued to grow our resource base through successful exploration in the area and are stepping up the pace, moving several tie-back projects forward at speed to capitalize on the Jotun FPSO. This will sustain production longer term and includes Balder Phase V, planned to come on stream later this year, and Balder Phase VI expected to be sanctioned in 2025, together adding a further 45-50 MMboe gross,” Var Energi COO Torger Rød said.

Vår Energi is the operator of the Balder field with a 90 percent stake, with Kistos Energy Norway AS as its partner with 10 percent.

Var Energi said that several new early phase projects are being progressed in the Greater Balder area, including Ringhorne North, Balder future phases and the King discovery, targeting gross contingent resources of more than 70 MMboe. Further exploration drilling is planned to unlock additional resources, the company noted.

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